Ainoa’s Valokki, Vaapukka and Sametti are awarded gold medals at the 2024 Concours International de Lyon.

Internationally awarded Finnish wines in 2017

Six years ago Finland was first named the world’s happiest country not long after the first three Finnish wines that won awards in international competitions became widely available: Valokki, Vaapukka & Sametti.

What makes these wines stand out? Finnish berries. The first rule that winemakers need to follow to make great wines is to use the best quality fruit possible. For winemakers working with grapes, that is a formidable challenge. Of the 75 million tons of grapes harvested each year, less than 1% are suitable to make high-end wines. The berry harvest in Finland is much smaller, but the proportion of fruit suitable for top quality wines is much higher. The Finnish terrain and climate combine to produce the best berries in the world. So unlike in other places, getting the best fruit is the easy part for berry winemakers in Finland.

This is true not just for the wild berries, but also for the cultivated berries. In Finland there are still many farmers who grow older, heirloom varieties of strawberries and raspberries. These older varieties are not as easy to grow and don’t always have the same yields, shelf life or pretty appearance that newer varieties give, but the flavors are far more intense. They are just as extraordinary as the wild berries.

It is due to the ready availability of great fruit that Ainoa now has nine gold medal wines awarded internationally. But it was Valokki, Vaapukka & Sametti that once again proved themselves at this year’s competition in Lyon, where almost 8700 wines, beers and spirits from 49 countries were judged. Referred to as the “big three” by our Finnish distributor for how popular they are as recommended pairings in high end restaurants, together they account for over half the bottles Ainoa sells.

This week, the big three had a big day. Not only did they earn the admiration of the French judges who awarded them gold medals, Valokki also received the trophy for the Best Spirit from Finland. That is an honor only ever awarded to two other products: Vaapukka and Sametti.

An incredible achievement that was only possible due to Finland’s incredible berries.

One more reason to be happy in Finland. 😊

Finnish berries did it again!