The production of wine from Danish grapes is still small in a European context (Denmark’s area with vineyards constitutes only a microscopic fraction of the EU area), but the growth is significant. Denmark has gone from a handful of hobby producers in the 1990s to more than 140 commercial wineries and more than 170 hectares of vineyards in 2025.
The growth is mainly driven by three factors:
We know wine regions such as Rioja, Bordeaux and Tuscany and classifications such as IGP, AOC and DOCG. In Denmark, we use 4 categories according to the EU’s classification system:
Denmark is divided into 4 wine regions, the so-called PGI wines.
The area around the town of Dons north of Kolding achieved the designation “Protected Designation of Origin” – PDO in 2018. It can be compared to, for example, the wine regions of Champagne, Rioja and Bordeaux. It is Skærsøgaard Vin in Dons that has applied for the PDO protection.
Looking back through history, there are numerous finds and written records showing that as far back as the Bronze Age, Danes produced mead (honey wine), and that from the Viking Age we have the first evidence of grape growing in Denmark.
Back in the 1200s, a number of monasteries established vineyards; in the same period, farms were required to plant orchards so fruit wines could be produced.
Grape growing had to be halted in the 1300s and up until the 1800s during the Little Ice Age, whereas the cultivation of apples in particular for apple wine continued, and the same applied to brewing mead.
There were several unsuccessful attempts to establish grape growing in the 1500s. Today, Denmark’s oldest producing vineyard is Furesødal, established in 1932.
The timeline gives an overview of the development in Denmark
1500 BC (approx.) – oldest finds of mead in two Bronze Age graves on Mors and in West Zealand, respectively
550 (approx.) – finds of seeds from locally grown grapes at the Viking settlement by Tissø in West Zealand
1230 – vineyards and orchards established at Danish monasteries
1400 – Queen Margrethe orders farmers to plant fruit trees
1518 – the vineyard on Langeland supplies wine to nearby churches
1555 – Archbishop Olaus Magnus writes down the oldest Nordic recipe for mead
1560 – the Danish king Frederik II orders 7,500 grapevines from Saxony
1616 – Denmark’s oldest cookbook is published, with recipes for, among other things, mead and spiced wine
1745 – establishment of Vinbjerget at Tirsbæk Castle by Vejle Fjord
1818 – Heering starts producing cherry wine
1841 – Kijafa cherry wine and fruit wines from Vingården / Odense Vin Kompagni
1932 – the company Vilh. Christiansen establishes the Furesødal vineyard, Denmark’s oldest producing vineyard. Vilh. Christiansen also produces fruit wines.
1940–45 – Patria apple wine from Heering becomes a bestseller
1980 – small Danish vineyards are established
1993 – the Association of Danish Winegrowers is established
2000 – Denmark is approved by the EU as a wine-producing country
2026 – over 100 professional commercial growers producing wine, fruit wine and mead. Over 1,000 hobby growers in the Danish Wine Association.
