Sweden · Skane

Vingården Stora Boråkra

Family estate in Blekinge producing still and sparkling Solaris, the cold-climate grape that won Sweden's best white wine award in 2014.

The producer

Staffan and Lil Ottosson run Vingården Stora Boråkra from a manor house built in the 1880s, ten minutes from the naval city of Karlskrona in Blekinge, Sweden's southernmost mainland county. The vineyard is the largest in Blekinge and one of the larger commercial estates in Sweden. Nearly everything planted here is Solaris, a white hybrid developed in Germany for disease resistance and reliable ripeness in short northern summers. The portfolio is two wines: a dry still white fermented in stainless steel and a sparkling wine made by secondary fermentation in bottle.

Staffan sits on the board of Svenskt Vin, the Swedish wine industry association, and has spent years training the next generation of Swedish winemakers. The estate planted its first 300 vines in 2009 and had its Solaris named Sweden's best white wine by 2014, five years into production. Both wines are available at Systembolaget, the Swedish state retail monopoly, making them accessible across the country.

Known for

Solaris; méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine

Notable facts

The story

Sweden's Best White, Five Years In

In the autumn of 2014, five years after Staffan and Lil Ottosson planted their first 300 Solaris vines, their white wine was named Sweden's best white in a national competition. They had moved to the manor in 1996 with no wine background, inherited land that had never grown grapes, and chosen a hybrid variety that most Swedish buyers had never tasted. They fermented in stainless steel, without oak, without a regional tradition to draw on, in a county where commercial viticulture had not previously been demonstrated to work. In 2014, their Solaris was named Sweden's best white wine.

Sweden's Best White, Five Years In

In the autumn of 2014, five years after Staffan and Lil Ottosson planted their first 300 Solaris vines, their white wine was named Sweden's best white in a national competition. They had moved to the manor in 1996 with no wine background, inherited land that had never grown grapes, and chosen a hybrid variety that most Swedish buyers had never tasted. They fermented in stainless steel, without oak, without a regional tradition to draw on, in a county where commercial viticulture had not previously been demonstrated to work. In 2014, their Solaris was named Sweden's best white wine.

From the atlas

Vingården Stora Boråkra

At A Glance

The Producer

Staffan and Lil Ottosson run Vingården Stora Boråkra from a manor house built in the 1880s, ten minutes from the naval city of Karlskrona in Blekinge, Sweden's southernmost mainland county. The vineyard is the largest in Blekinge and one of the larger commercial wine estates in Sweden. Nearly everything planted here is Solaris, a white hybrid developed in Germany for disease resistance and reliable ripeness in short northern summers. The portfolio is two wines: a dry still white fermented in stainless steel and a sparkling wine made by secondary fermentation in bottle.

Staffan sits on the board of Svenskt Vin, the Swedish wine industry association, and has spent years training the next generation of Swedish winemakers. The estate is the first commercial vineyard in Blekinge; it has become a working reference point for how Swedish viticulture handles the Solaris grape.

Place

Blekinge is a coastal county in the far south of Sweden, bordering the Baltic. The growing season is short and cool by European wine standards, with summer warmth arriving late and autumn arriving early. Frost risk and limited sun hours rule out the classical European varieties that dominate France or Germany. What Blekinge can offer is enough warmth between June and September to ripen a grape engineered for exactly those conditions.

Karlskrona, ten minutes away, is a UNESCO World Heritage naval city on a granite archipelago. The surrounding landscape is low and wooded. The manor estate sits within this geography without dramatic elevation or well-documented slope aspect, but its position in Blekinge's milder southern microclimate is what makes commercial viticulture possible at all.

Soil And Site

Stora Boråkra is a manor property in Blekinge, ten minutes from Karlskrona city centre. The first 300 vines were planted in 2009, and the vineyard now has approximately 3,800 to 4,000 vines. Solaris accounts for 98% of plantings and is suited to cooler Nordic climates. The still wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel. The 2021 shows ripe lemon, melon and vibrant acidity, while the 2024 brings gravel, birch leaves and cleansing acidity.

Story

Staffan's mother was born on the Stora Boråkra manor. When Staffan and Lil moved to the property in 1996, the land carried no vines, no wine history, and no local winemaking tradition to follow. For thirteen years they farmed the estate without any viticultural ambition, then in 2009 they planted the first 300 Solaris vines.

The choice of Solaris was deliberate and practical. Chardonnay and Riesling cannot reliably ripen in Blekinge. Solaris, a German-bred cross between Villard Blanc and Zarya Severa, was developed to handle exactly these conditions: disease pressure in damp climates, short growing windows, and cool autumns. Planting it was a decision to work with the place rather than against it.

By 2014, five years after those first plantings, the estate's Solaris had been named Sweden's best white wine in a national competition. The award validated both the grape and the method. Staffan subsequently joined the board of Svenskt Vin and took on the training of Swedish winemakers, extending the estate's influence across the country's emerging wine industry.

Vineyards And Cellar

Solaris accounts for 98% of plantings. The grape's disease resistance reduces the need for chemical intervention in Blekinge's damp, coastal climate. It achieves phenolic ripeness during the county's short summer, producing grapes with enough natural sugar for dry wine production without artificial concentration.

For the still wine, fermentation and ageing happen entirely in stainless steel with no oak contact. Stainless steel preserves the grape's aromatics intact: the citrus, herbal, and mineral character that Solaris develops in cool conditions comes through without wood overlay or softening. The method is a choice about transparency.

The sparkling wine follows méthode traditionnelle: primary fermentation produces a base wine, then a measured addition of sugar and yeast triggers a second fermentation inside the sealed bottle. The carbon dioxide produced integrates with the wine over time. Disgorgement removes the spent yeast, and the finished wine carries the texture and secondary complexity that come from extended bottle contact.

Wines

The portfolio has two expressions, both built from estate Solaris fruit.

Stora Boråkra Solaris is a dry white wine fermented and aged in stainless steel. It does not touch oak. Across vintages the wine opens with citrus-forward aromatics: candied lemon and white pepper in the 2021, gravel and birch leaf alongside the lemon in the 2024, a grassy and mineral quality in the 2019. The acidity is the consistent defining line, bright and cleansing, with enough grip to carry the wine's modest body without thinning out. The 2025 shows white currant, fresh herbs, green apple and lemon. Vintages vary in density and openness but the acid architecture stays firm.

Boråkra Mousserande brings the same Solaris fruit through méthode traditionnelle. The sparkling wines add a layer of secondary complexity that the still wine does not carry: pear, honeydew melon, almond blossom, gooseberry, and biscuit from the 2021, with green apple, light bread, herbs and lemon in the 2022 Brut. Both are dry. The mousse integrates cleanly, and the acidity that runs through the still wine finds a natural home in the sparkling format.

In The Glass

The still Solaris opens with lemon-dominant aromatics: candied in cooler or younger vintages, sharper and more mineral when conditions tighten. The 2021 adds cement and white pepper, building a structured nose with more complexity than the name Solaris tends to suggest to buyers unfamiliar with Swedish wine. On the palate, ripe lemon and melon move through a firm mid-palate and end in a long, juicy finish. The 2024 is tighter, with gravel and birch leaf on the nose and a cleansing acidity that needs time to open. The 2019 is grassy and balanced, with crisp yellow fruit and a fine, even acid line.

The sparkling Mousserande lifts those citrus foundations into something broader. Pear and honeydew move forward, almond blossom and biscuit add weight, and the mousse carries the whole thing to a dry, clean finish. There is no richness here in the southern European sense: both wines are Nordic in profile, cool-fruited, acidic, and direct.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Stora Boråkra Solaris, the still white. One grape, one county, stainless steel from fermentation to bottle. What comes through is what Solaris does in Blekinge's cool southern growing season: candied lemon and mineral lift on the nose, a firm acid line on the palate, and a finish that stays clean and bright without the support of oak or blending. Choose the 2021 Stora Boråkra Solaris, with ripe lemon, melon and a long, juicy finish with vibrant acidity.

Anecdote

In the autumn of 2014, five years after Staffan and Lil Ottosson planted their first 300 Solaris vines, their white wine was named Sweden's best white in a national competition. They had moved to the manor in 1996 with no wine background, inherited land that had never grown grapes, and chosen a hybrid variety that most Swedish buyers had never tasted. They fermented in stainless steel, without oak, without a regional tradition to draw on, in a county where commercial viticulture had not previously been demonstrated to work. In 2014, their Solaris was named Sweden's best white wine.

Final Word

At Stora Boråkra, 98% of plantings are Solaris, with the still wine fermented and aged in stainless steel and the sparkling wine made by secondary fermentation in bottle.

Sources

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