Why it matters
The producer
Thora Vingård farms eleven hectares on the Bjäre Peninsula, a narrow coastal spit in Skåne that juts into the Kattegat on Sweden's southwestern tip. The farm sits roughly 800 metres from the water. Romain Chichery and Emma Berto guide production. Vines went into the ground in 2014 and 2015, the first planting an experiment rather than a continuation of any regional tradition. By 2023 the estate held organic certification. In summer 2024 a farm restaurant opened, completing a ten-year arc from bare agricultural land to working wine and hospitality destination.
Solaris is the centrepiece grape, taking up roughly forty percent of plantings. Pinot Noir is established and producing. Chardonnay, Meunier, Gamay, and Chenin Blanc are in the ground but their commercial release status is not confirmed. The wines that currently reach Systembolaget and Swedish restaurants carry a consistent signature: fresh acidity, herbal lift, citrus and pear fruit, and a coastal lightness that separates them from warmer-climate versions of the same varieties.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Skåne is Sweden's southernmost county and the country's most active wine region. Within it, the Bjäre Peninsula reaches into the sea on the west coast, creating a microclimate shaped by open water on three sides. The latitude here is roughly equivalent to the Scottish Borders or northern Newfoundland, so full grape ripeness is an annual negotiation rather than a given.
Coastal exposure is the site's defining advantage. Constant maritime breezes move across the vine canopy, drying leaf surfaces and grape skins after rain. That airflow reduces fungal pressure significantly, which matters in a wet northern climate where mildew and botrytis are the primary viticultural threats. At Thora, the breezes are treated as a farming tool: less copper and sulfur, less intervention, more reliance on the site itself to manage vine health. The result appears in the wines as freshness rather than weight, a profile shaped as much by the sea as by the cellar.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The vineyard is farmed without ploughing, maintaining ground cover that builds soil organic matter and microbial activity over time. Biodynamic preparations guide seasonal applications. The coastal airflow keeps vine surfaces dry, and the farming leans on that natural advantage to reduce chemical inputs. Organic certification since 2023 documents the approach formally.
In the cellar, Heritage and Pure represent two different treatments of Solaris. Heritage is oak-aged, which adds weight, texture, and a spice note to the grape's naturally citrus and herbal character. The Pinot Noir 2022 reached enough colour concentration and tannin grip to function as a recognisable red wine, a meaningful result given the latitude. The Natt Pét Nat uses pétillant naturel method: the wine is bottled before fermentation finishes, the remaining sugar consumed in the bottle to create light natural carbonation and a slightly cloudy, lively texture.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is compact and built around Solaris in two forms, a Pinot Noir, and a pét nat.
Heritage 2023 is 100% Solaris at 12% alcohol, oak-aged, and organic certified. It is the most structured white in the range: pear and citrus fruit on the nose, then green apple, butter, white currant, and herbs in the mouth, with a prominent oak note that is present but not dominant. Fresh acidity runs through the mid-palate and carries the wine to a clean finish with good length.