Österlen Winery is already arranging viewings and tastings of the wine produced at the farm on Österlen. One thing has not been possible, however, that visitors, not only from Sweden but also from abroad, can buy a few bottles after the visit.
We have quite a lot of visitors and many foreign ones. It's a shame when you've done a viewing and then they can't buy wine with them. Sweden is actually the only country in the entire EU where you can't buy a bottle of wine, he says.
After the green light from Brussels, Social Minister Jakob Forssmed's (KD) assessment is that farm sales will be able to start in Sweden from June 1st this year. Even though it happens with certain restrictions, such as sales times and how much each individual can buy, Thorsten Persson is cautiously optimistic:
I had the then Minister of Agriculture visiting as early as 2010, and he promised farm sales by 2012, but he didn't manage to negotiate it. Since then, they've been working on it, but now it seems it will finally happen – at last.
Do the purchase quantity restrictions pose any obstacles for you?
No, I don't think so. If you're two people who can buy three liters each, it's no problem, it can work.
In practical terms, he doesn't see any major obstacles to starting sales already this summer:
I can do it right away. It's just a matter of what permits apply.
