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People have been making wine for thousands of years, but despite these long-standing traditions, the world of wine is still subject to shifting trends and new fashions. Daniel Kouthoofd, head sommelier at Vinoteket.se, presents some of the trends currently dominating the Swedish wine scene. When you look at the sales figures, it’s easy to see that we’re drinking sparkling wine like never before. According to Daniel Kouthoofd, the ‘sparkling wine trend’ has been going strong for a couple of years now, and it is Prosecco in particular that is attracting wine drinkers in both Sweden and the rest of Europe.

The classics are doing well – and oak barrels are out

Whilst many people want to try something new on the rosé front, there is an opposite trend amongst red wine buyers. Daniel explains that a few years ago, it was trendy to try new, more experimental winemakers from Australia or the US. Today, however, the pendulum has swung back, and there is instead a strong demand for classic red wines from, for example, Bordeaux or the Rhône Valley. According to Daniel, this reflects a desire amongst wine consumers to go ‘back to basics’ and appreciate the traditional production methods of the classic producers.
A slightly narrower trend, which has nevertheless become apparent over the past year, is that oak barrels have begun to lose popularity. According to Daniel, many wine drinkers now seem to have grown tired of the heavy oaky character associated with ageing in oak barrels.
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– It’s clear that we’re moving more towards either ‘un-oaked’ wines, which are much more fruit-driven, clean and light, or experimenting with other types of storage vessels. Terracotta amphorae, for example, have become popular, and this is probably linked to the ‘back to basics’ trend, as it’s a way of recreating how wine was made in the past. It’s not just established wine producers who are trying this out now, but also up-and-coming producers who are releasing wines aged in amphorae, which are generating a huge buzz.
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The Wine Expert: How to know which wine pairs with your food

When it comes to wine, there’s no shortage of choice, and when you’re handed a wine list, it can feel almost impossible to know which bottle goes with which dish. To make things a little easier, Daniel Kouthoofd, head sommelier at Vinoteket.se, offers three tips on what to bear in mind when pairing wine with food.

Look at the map

According to Daniel Kouthoofd, the easiest way to pair wine and food is to think geographically. The rule of thumb is that wines and dishes from the same regions often work well together
. – If you look at food from Tuscany, for example, there’s a lot of meat, often game, but also plenty of cheese, mushrooms, herbs and other forest produce. That’s exactly the sort of food that Chianti or Brunello wines go well with. If, on the other hand, you’re having something barbecued, you might want to think about where barbecuing is popular. That’s a pretty good clue, and wines from Australia, South Africa or the US are likely to be a better match than a German Pinot Noir.

Find similarities

Daniel’s second tip is about finding a wine that shares certain similarities with the food you’re about to eat. To create a good harmony between wine and food, it’s important that no single flavour overpowers the others. If you’re serving a dish with high acidity, you’ll therefore need a wine with high acidity too, so that they balance each other out and allow all the flavours to come through
. – A classic example is that the sweeter the dessert, the sweeter the dessert wine you should choose. Many people think the opposite – that they shouldn’t buy a very sweet dessert wine because the dessert is already so sweet. But with a dry dessert wine, the sweetness of the food can become too overpowering, or the acidity of the wine can dominate, and there will be no good harmony. Another classic pairing is rich food and tannin-rich wines. If you’re eating a piece of meat with a lot of fat, or if you’re having a rich sauce with your meat, the tannins will temper the richness – and the richness will temper the tannins.

Don’t focus on the protein

According to Daniel, a common mistake when choosing wine is that we focus too much on whether we’re eating meat, fish or chicken. The idea that you ‘always’ should have white wine with fish is a typical rule of thumb that many people rely on when choosing wine. According to Daniel, however, you should think more about the accompaniments and sauces that will be served with the fish or meat. Often, it is these that determine the flavour and which the wine must complement.
– You shouldn’t think about whether it’s fish or meat, but about what it tastes like. I was recently at a restaurant that served cod à la bourguignon – in other words, a boeuf bourguignon but with cod. In that dish, it was the accompaniments – such as pork belly, wild mushrooms and pickled onions – that defined the flavour rather than the cod fillet itself. That’s why you’d pair it with a red wine, perhaps a Pinot Noir, which has that lovely ‘mushroomy’ forest note.