The wine fairs are dueling

Just a couple of weeks apart, we visited two wine fairs, Wine&Deli in Karlstad and Örebro Wine Fair. The question though is which was the best and which, if any, will we visit next year? Join Rendahl's wine fair fight!

We started with Vin&Deli in Karlstad one weekend in February. The fair takes place at Karlstad CCC, a large congress hall located right by the Klarälven. The focus of the fair is of course wine, but here there are delicacies in the form of charcuterie, cheeses, Italian pickles and chocolate. The bright premises with the beautiful view of the water give the fair a pleasant setting and also make it feel significantly more airy than it actually is. Even if you have to book a certain entry time when you buy your ticket, there are a lot of people at the fair and sometimes quite crowded. However, most exhibitors are attentive and chatty, which makes visitors feel welcome despite the crowd.

A week or so later it was time for the Örebro wine fair at the Conventum. The fair is considerably smaller in format and although they also have some cured meats, cheeses and other things, mostly wine is offered. Many of the exhibitors we saw at Vin&Deli were also present in Örebro, but we also saw some new additions. For example, we found an exhibitor who promoted the Czech Republic as a wine country. I don't think I've ever tasted Czech wine before, so when they offered us a little mini-tasting, of course we accepted. They were really exciting wines, very flavorful, often quite a different taste and with a clear mineral note. I might not rush off to Systembolaget to order a bottle, but it was a lot of fun to try.

Both fairs organized wine tastings, but Vin&Deli clearly had the largest selection. We went to two tastings that had a slightly more odd theme, Enemies of the Wine and Bubble Duel. The enemies of wine were about taste mistakes you easily make when composing a dinner and how to easily avoid them. It can be about something as simple as adding a little salt to the tomatoes or serving the tasty Asian dish with a slightly sweeter wine. The bubble duel lived up to its name despite being a fairly standard bubble tasting but with slightly more different sparkling wines than the ones I tried before.

Yes, so which fair was the best? In all honesty, it must be said that none of the fairs are for wine connoisseurs. It is mostly slightly simpler and more commercial wines on offer, although you can find nuggets here and there. Now, we're not wine connoisseurs, but think it's quite nice to mingle around and try a bit of one or the other. If you're like us mostly looking for a good time, munching on a piece of cheese or sipping a glass of wine, both fairs work well. However, we liked Vin&Deli the best. Karlstad CCC is a much nicer venue to hold a fair in as it is both bigger and brighter than the Conventum in Örebro. We really enjoyed the tests we attended. Örebro also had trials, but these were held inside the exhibition hall and did not feel nearly as personal. Something that spoke in Örebro's favor was that the exhibitors were more generous with the morsels and filled the glasses more. Despite this, it will definitely be Vin&Deli in Karlstad that we will return to next year. Maybe we'll see you there?

The evening in Örebro ended with a good dinner at Restaurant Mojo. A mixed menu with both large and small dishes as well as a tasting menu for those who cannot decide. They also had really good drinks. Just today the kitchen was perhaps not at its best, as it has been in the past, but the pleasant atmosphere and good service still made up for it.

Satisfied and happy after the evening's wine fair, we walked back to Hotel Borgen, a nice hotel with a lovely mix of old and new. Here we slept well and woke up rested, ready for new experiences.