On 4.5.2023 Ainoa Aho was named Vuoden Marjaviini (berry wine of the year) after being awarded the gold medal in the white berry wine category at the Vuoden Viiini competition. The gold medal and awarded trophy are the first that an Ainoa Wine has received in Finland, and the first Ainoa has ever received in a competition category restricted to berry wines. They are not the first awards for Ainoa wines this year (see sidebar below), but these were especially meaningful for us. Not just because we won them, but also because they happened at all.

The Vuoden Viini competition was established 26 years ago with the goal of educating consumers in Finland about wine and wine culture. In the beginning, they simply identified and highlighted one extraordinary wine that was available here. But over the years as wine knowledge has spread and consumers have become savvier about wines, categories have been added that highlight the diversity of the wines available. This year they added Finnish berry wines and awarded medals to the best red, white and sparkling berry wines entered, as well as the trophy for best berry wine overall. Why? Because the people who run the Vuoden Viini competition have determined that the Finnish berry wines now available are high quality products that people in Finland should know more about.

For those who know Finland, this is revolutionary. It wasn’t so long ago that berry wines were almost universally viewed as rough low-quality products. That reputation was forged in the 1990s when a severe recession caused many people to make berry wines at home, but the majority had no understanding of how to make good wines, leading to poor results. When we arrived in 2008, we couldn’t understand why we didn’t see pride in local wines, as is the case almost everywhere wine is made. Once we got the hang of making wine from berries, and realized just how good wine from Finnish berries could be, we were even more confused.

When we started Ainoa Winery, we still did not appreciate how engrained the issue was. It was not until we began to win awards at international wine competitions that we were able to get many people to even taste our wines. I vividly remember the first time our wine was served at Ravintola Savoy. It was on 06.12.2017, the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence, and the Sommelier there recounted to me the response he got when he announced that the dessert would be accompanied by “a Finnish berry wine”. The reactions included shock, surprise, and even anger. But he told me with a grin, once people tasted our wine, they understood why it belonged on that special menu.

Getting people to taste berry wines has been the key to changing perceptions. Afterall, as Samuil Angelov (who collaborated in the creation of Ainoa Aho) taught us, figuring out if a wine is good is easy: taste it. If you like it, it is good. And perceptions are changing. These days Finnish berry wines are regularly served at top restaurants across Finland. Wine experts recommend them as pairings for foods, they are served with pride to foreign guests and in business class aboard Finnair flights. And Vuoden Viini has chosen a berry wine of the year.

Among Finnish wine aficionados it has become a popular discussion these days, with effects of climate change, how long will it be before Finland can become a wine country? I would argue that it already is. But rather than copying wine the way others do it, Finland makes its wines out of native Finnish ingredients, unique wines the like of which cannot be made anywhere else and truly reflect the terroir of Finland. The extraordinary quality of Finnish berries is the key, and that translates into extraordinary fruit wines that when made properly can rival the best grape wines.

It is time to taste professionally made Finnish berry wines and be amazed.

Awards for Ainoa Wines in 2023

Since 2016 when Ainoa Sametti receiving the first gold medal ever awarded to a Finnish wine in an international competition, nine different Ainoa fruit wines have received a total of more than 50 gold or silver medals internationally. This year alone that number has grown by a trophy, 6 gold and 2 silver medals in addition to the Vuoden Viini awards.

On March 6, 2023 Ainoa Kuningatar, Ainoa Suven Taika and Ainoa Vaapukka were awarded gold medals at the Vinalies Internationales in Bordeaux, and on April 4th Ainoa Kaamos received a gold medal at the Mondial du Rosé in Provence. Both are wine competition organized by the Oenologues de France, where berry wines are judged side-by-side with and to the same standards as grape wines. The 12 gold and 5 silver medals Ainoa wines have won at these two competitions since 2017 are the only medals they have ever awarded for berry wines.

At the end of April, Ainoa Kuningatar and Ainoa Sametti were awarded gold medals, while Ainoa Aho and Ainoa Vaapukka received silver medals at the Concours International de Lyon. In this competition, berry and fruit wines are judged alongside spirits. Sametti received the trophy for Best Spirit from Finland – for the third year in a row.

The sheer volume of awards received by one berry winery in Hollola shows that the greatest potential for stand-out Finnish craft alcohol is in berry wines. “Our advantage is the Finnish berries” according to Ainoa Founder Paola Guerrero de Cohen. “They are high quality, unique and can be turned into incredible fruit wines that are also high quality and unique.” These are fruit wines that can only be made in Finland.

Ainoa Aho chosen Vuoden Marjaviini 2023 at the Vuoden Viini Kilpailu