Couldn't catch a fish, but caught me a local treasure...

So I've had no luck catching a fish on my own. I'll admit, I didn't try THAT hard the other day (I think we had the line in the water for about an hour with no bait). A large one jumped clear out of the water about 20 feet away as if to taunt me, but he wasn't simple enough to bite at MY fishing line. Oh well - I will try fishing again when I return to Norway. Here's a pic of me as a fishing virgin. What a place to fish.. :)

Forget fishing - I caught a local treasure I will be talking about for a while. Johan Setnes - a teacher and resident here in Andalsnes runs his own small winery, started as a hobby in 1980 since becoming a recognized cellar and tasting attraction for those who enjoy fruit wine. Using only local organic fruit or herbs (strawberry, apricot, plum, birch tree, cloudberries etc.) - some from his own garden, he produces his wine, with 14 cellars at his disposal.  

Frozen fruit and berries for wine prep from the surrounding Region

We took a tour of the cellars and tasted about 11 different varieties, all unique and flavorful with different levels of sweetness. Most wines run around 11-12% in alcohol content, and depending on what you drink you could become intoxicated *very* fast if you aren't careful. The plum wine had virtually no sign of alcohol going down and was incredibly smooth. Others less so - and more to my personal liking. Some of the wines were quite sweet (for instance, yellow gooseberry or raspberry), and others quite rounded in flavor, having a deliciously 'funky' taste to them - like the 21-year aged Lingonberry, blueberry and Cranberry blend we tried in the last candlelit stone cellar towards the end of the tour. This bottle was my favorite:

21-year blend - a 6 out of 6 from Norwegian wine experts

Our tasting of this wine in a candlelit cellar

His process is fairly straight-forward - Johan collects the fruit and freezes it (this adds more flavor, he tells us). Then after crushing for juice, he adds yeast and lets it sit for approximately ten days. It is then added to a container and eventually topped off with sugar water. The next step is to release all the air that may be left in the containers (plastic device at the top of the containers below), which you do slowly over time. 

Release the gases!

When the bubbles are gone (about three months), you switch it over to a glass container where it goes through a process of resting. He stores most wines in glass containers for years before bottling. Once bottled, they are stored in his slightly damp and cool cellar - some for over a decade. All this was understood by me quite vaguely as it was told to us in Norwegian and my translator was doing his best but had to summarize at times rather quickly (my boyfriend). Any mystery about the process can be dispelled as Johan has published a book about it - in Norwegian, of course. :)

Stored bottles - the wall grows substantial mold - part of the process

I've been to wine tastings, but this one trumps the rest. The small cellars provided a cozy and intimate atmosphere, and Johan's personal attendance and lecture of his process and wines was a treat - not just because of their flavors :) I begged him to sell me a bottle of the Birch Tree or blended berry wines but his bottles are not for sale. If you want Johan's wine, you can only sip it at a tasting here in Andalsnes - frustrating INDEED. Taxes mainly prevent him from selling them, but he clearly enjoys giving the lectures in person - and receiving company from people who come to taste what he has lovingly produced. Oh well. Guess I'll have to come back.

Johan Setnes with  his wines - WWW.TUENVIN.NET