Exploring nordic nature through wine

A sommelier’s R&D journey into whether wild northern ingredients can speak the language of classic wine.

Dear visitor,

I'm Ronja Bo Gustavsson, a private sommelier based in Copenhagen, and the founder of SubRosa, where I create wine experiences for small groups and businesses. But beyond that, I’m always on a discovery journey.

Right now, I’m into a R&D project, driven by a single question:

Can I reverse-engineer Nordic ingredients into wines that echo the flavor profiles of classic regions?

For example: a benchmark Bourgogne often tastes like cherries, red cassis, violets, mushrooms, and forest floor.
But if you look closely — don’t we already have those things here in the Nordic wild?

So I started exploring:

Could I build a wine from gooseberries and get the saltiness of an Albariño — using sea fennel (ostronsört)?

Could Karl Johan mushrooms, birch, and cherries offer the structure of Pinot?

It’s curiosity, concept-driven, ingredient-focused, and rooted in the wild flavors of the North.

This is just me asking questions. Documenting the process. Learning. And seeing where the path leads.

Hope you like to follow the journey.

Best, Ronja Bo Gustavsson, Sommelier