Research into Røsnæs Wine Helps Shape the Future of the Danish Wine Industry

With its rolling hills, dramatic cliffs and exceptional views across both the fjord and Sejerø Bay, the Røsnæs peninsula west of Kalundborg is truly something special. A large number of holiday home visitors, local tourists and, increasingly, wine tourists can certainly attest to that.

The area receives 200 more hours of sunshine each year than the rest of Denmark, and temperatures here are generally one degree higher than in other parts of the country. The many warm days make the area particularly well suited to wine production, and several vineyards are located here. This includes Denmark’s largest vineyard, Dyrehøj, which in recent years has invested heavily in both wine development and wine tourism.

As the Danish wine industry continues to develop, there is an increasing need for a shared understanding of what characterizes Danish wine. This is why the characteristics of Danish wine are at the centre of a new master’s thesis from the University of Copenhagen, carried out this spring in collaboration with Helix Lab and Dyrehøj Vingaard.

As part of the project, Ke Xu, a student in Integrated Food Studies, investigated how consumers perceive wine from Denmark, more specifically, white wine made from the Solaris grape, which is widely cultivated on Røsnæs. If Danish wine is to establish its own identity, it is essential to understand how consumers experience it.

The thesis project was facilitated by the research and education centre Helix Lab. As a Helix Lab Fellow, Ke Xu lived at Kalundborg Kollegiet for six months while working on his thesis. During this time, he was part of the team at Dyrehøj Vingaard three days a week.

Based on an online consumer survey, a blind tasting conducted by a panel of wine experts, and a consumer tasting of four Danish Solaris wines, including a wine from Dyrehøj Vingaard, the thesis examines how Danish and international consumers perceive Danish Solaris white wine. At the same time, it explores how both sensory experiences and associations with Røsnæs help shape the character of the wine as a new Danish wine category.

This type of knowledge can help set the direction for an industry that is currently undergoing significant development, says Ke Xu.

“Denmark is still a newcomer to the world of wine. So there is a lack of definitions of what Danish wine is and what it should be. Although Solaris is the most widely cultivated grape variety for wine production in Denmark, we know very little about what consumers think of its taste, what makes it unique, or what consumers associate with the name ‘Solaris’. That is what the thesis investigates.”

Tastes of Green Apples and Sauvignon Blanc

But what do consumers and the participants in the blind tastings and questionnaires actually think about white wine made from Solaris?

The results show that Danish and international participants rated the wine very similarly, even though the Danish participants were more likely to expect a dry and acidic wine before tasting it. Across four different wines in a blind test, Solaris was particularly associated with aromas of citrus and green apples, a relatively dry style, pronounced acidity and a light, crisp mouthfeel.

These characteristics were perceived by the participants as particularly distinctive of Danish Solaris, while associations with Nordic nature and food culture also helped shape their perception of the wine style.

“The wine from Dyrehøj largely fitted this profile. Overall, the thesis indicates that a shared perception of what characterizes Danish Solaris is beginning to emerge,” says Ke Xu.

However, one of the blind tests showed that Solaris appears familiar to a particular group of participants: experts. A number of wine experts and professionals from the wine industry were asked to blind taste eight Danish Solaris wines and two Sauvignon Blanc wines to see whether they could distinguish between the two varieties. Surprisingly, they could not.

“Solaris resembles Sauvignon Blanc, which is why we included it in the blind tasting. But several of the experts and industry professionals who participated confused a typical Danish Solaris with Sauvignon Blanc. That is actually a good thing, because it gives people a point of comparison that they are already familiar with,” says Jacob Bruun Jensen, adding:

“I think the results were very positive, and there has clearly been a good dialogue about what a typical Danish Solaris should be.”