Totally Stockholm 1
Tyge & Sessil, photo: David Loftus Tyge & Sessil,
photo: David Loftus knowledge and an urge to try new wines among a constantly growing band of wine geeks, but more importantly among the broader general public. This is obviously a necessary seedbed for the waves of wine bars to keep coming. Despite the development of the Stockholm bar scene over the last ten years – what some would even call an explosion of wine bars - it does seem like the more into wine you get, the more you expect a city with casually sprinkled, unpretentious small wine bars on every street corner. It was in October of 1980, 41 years ago today, when what many would call the first modern wine bar - Willi’s Wine Bar, behind Palais Royal in the first arrondissement in Paris - was started by Englishman Mark Williamson. I presuppose that at that very moment, no one counted on his concept being the precursor of something that later was seen as very French. There is of course no doubt that wine was sold, served and immensely enjoyed by the Parisians even before this Englishman’s entry on the scene. But mostly through casually ordering a glass of random Beaujolais at a café. This thing with carefully curating a proud wine list, by the bottle and by the glass, adding some small dishes, and really focussing on and highlighting the various wines, and the winemakers behind them is more or less what wine bars have been all about ever since. And that applies too here in Stockholm. But wine tourists don’t flock to the streets of Stockholm. If they want some respite from their visits to the vines of Sicily, South Africa or Sonoma Valley, they probably head towards the wine bar scene in cities like Copenhagen, Tokyo, New York, possibly Bordeaux or San Sebastian, and of course, Paris. But that doesn’t bother us at all. We just want a string of great little establishments where we can socialise, drink bucketloads of good wine, and adventurously discover new grape varieties, wine styles and areas of origin. The classic hangouts, like 19 Glas in Gamla Stan have been joined by talked about ventures like Babette, Folii and Grus Grus, but a lot more have popped up. You don’t even have to be a sommelier to open a wine bar anymore. One example of that is Jin and Young, Sakiko and Damon, who opened the homely Ambar in Vasastan a couple of years back. Ambar was also one of the first to have specific niche by highlighting orange wine, which was new and trendy back then, and is still as great today. Cork in Gamla Stan focusses on Portugal, but otherwise the most common framing, if there is one at all, is natural wine. That what started at Noma and spread through Copenhagen’s wine bars and made its way up north to us is really no surprise, considering both our focus on good produce and our general climate consciousness, which is probably the highest in the world. One bit of news this autumn is the re-opening of Gaston Vinbar at Mälartorget, Gamla Stan. Another is wine importer Wine Trade’s own little wine bar on Södermalm. The doors of Bar Ninja, as it will be called, is currently pencilled in to swing open in October. “Already when I began importing in 2007, the plans were there. But then I launched a brewery, Stockholm Brewing, which took up my time,” Niklas Jakobsson of Wine Trade explains. The bar is not just a marketing tool for their own wines either. “No, it’s completely independent. We will have all kinds of wine. I have been buying wines for years, so we’ll be able to have a fun wine list of various vintages,” he says. Do you think the trend in the future is towards more and smaller bars? I hope so! We need some simpler places for drinking and eating. What’s the most important thing to think about when opening a wine bar, and what do the guests want? That’s highly personal. And it changes depending on your mood. Sometimes you just want a quick bottle of juicy wine, sometimes you want to stay longer and try all kinds of wine. Luckily there are spots for everything here in town. What are your favourites on the current wine bar scene and how will you differ from them? I love Savant, Folii, Vina, Gemla, Grus Grus, Cave Nizza and more. I think they all differ from each other when it comes to both wines and food. My hope is that we will really add something to the wine culture in Stockholm. Last year of all years, there was another newcomer on the wine bar scene. Without a sign, name or marketing, Alvaro Ovalle began selling natural wine at Reimers Hotell on Reimersholme. After a while people began talking about ’Naturvinsbaren’ and it was no longer a secret to the initiated and the locals. Alvaro has now left, and will join Tyge & Sessil, but after having already launched a successful wine venture, we thought Alvaro might know the secret recipe for opening a wine bar. ”More wines by the glass and a relaxed atmosphere. You don’t need much more than that. I like Savant, which is like coming into an old school record store. You chat a bit with the bartender to find out what you want to drink,” he explains. Will we now see more specialised bars, or just more small and unpretentious ones, what do you see as the next trend? I’m not good at spotting trends, but if I begin with your wording, I actually think it’s important to be pretentious. But not to be snobbish towards those who don’t have the same view or understanding of what you do. To meet people at various levels, and make the effort of explaining why you make your choices. One thing could be to find venues that are empty at night, like the stores Sneakers N Stuff and Nitty Gritty have done previously. It could be office space or showrooms or such. Gemla Wine Bar did that and now Wine Trade are doing it in their office. Is that a trend? I think it is. We have to talk about your natural wine bar on Reimersholme too. It came from nowhere and became a destination for people across the city. Was that ever the intention? It was in the middle of May last year, just when the restrictions kicked in. I was just hoping for the locals really. I wanted to sell natural wine as cheaply as possible to make people realise how much fun it is with all the tastes that have been industrialised away. Now you will move on to Tyge & Sessil, could you tell us a bit more about that? We’re a motley crew with good music, good drinks and late nights as our common denominator. We will all put our touch on the place. One of my guilty pleasures is karaoke, so to spice things up with that would be great. I also love live music so I’m hoping for that too. And always, food all the way until the bar closes! 13