Orkney Wine Company

Dutch couple, Emile and Marjolein Van Schayk of the Orkney Wine Company tell us why you don't need grapes and hot sun to make superb wine…

When you arrive at the home of Orkney Wines, the most northerly winery in the UK, two miles outside Kirkwall, you might be looking around for a vineyard. In fact none of the wines contain any grapes at all. Instead they are made with all kinds of other fruit to Emile Van Schayk's original recipes.

Originally from Holland, the Van Schayk family moved to Scotland 11 years ago when Marjolein was training to be a doctor. Through his wife, Emile met a retired Scottish shepherdess who gave him his first recipe for fruit wines. Fruit wines have traditionally been made by Scots using family recipes handed down through the generations He smiles as he remembers his first taste of her wine:

"She gave me a large glass of apple 'something.' I don't know exactly what it was but it tasted beautiful. She told me that I ought to start making wines and gave me a recipe in an old book and that's where it all began.

"So far I think I have made over a hundred different wines, not for commercial sale but just for myself. After I met the shepherdess I was hooked in no time at all and the house became full of bottles."

Prize winning wines

It was in 1999 that Emile was persuaded by his friends to enter his wine in a Home Brewer wine competition. He remembers how it felt:

"It was quite scary and the year after, in 2000, they announced that they had only one prize to give that night. It ended up that I got all three prizes. And then our friends asked if we would sell them a bottle, that we should start a commercial business because they all wanted to buy it. So I made a business plan and went to Orkney Enterprise; they were very helpful and I got a loan and grant.

"At the moment I have 14 tanks but it's so popular that I will have to expand. It is 2,000 litres every time I make one type of wine now. Fruit wine is expensive compared to grape wines but we have no trouble selling it all. Some snobs say that it's not real wine, but of course it is! A grape is just a fruit that's the same as any other."

Using local ingredients

Emile explains:

'In the past, people would use the natural resources around them, which doesn't happen so much now. But they can make some money bringing us buckets of gooseberries and other fruits that grow well here.

"Each batch turns out slightly different. The fermenting process is totally natural with some sugar added to create the fermenting. You don't get hangovers from my wine, and there is nothing like ascorbic acid or sulphur in the wine. I drink my own wines and that's why I only want good things in it.

"With our wines they stay good for two or three weeks. With grape wines you have to finish it in two or three days, which is terrible. I don't know why this is, maybe it's because my wines have so much fruit in them.

"We use gooseberries from Orkney. Rosehips and elderflower, meadowsweet and gorse flower do really well here as well. We have days were we have about 40 or 50 people out picking fruit. We play the pipes and have a picnic; it's a fantastic day!"

Picking up a bottle containing a liquid the colour of rose, he tells us:

"The Strawberries in this batch are from Papa Westray, one of the smaller islands on Orkney. Creating these wines is very artistic, in a way it is a real craft, and it's lovely to see my wines on a table in a restaurant and to hear people say, 'it tastes so nice'."

The future for Orkney wines

The future looks bright for Emile.

"We are currently talking with a company who sell beverages to nightclubs and good shops. One of the directors was visiting on holiday and he took a few bottles home. He loved it so much that he contacted us, asking to sell our product."

This is only their fourth year in business but already Orkney Wines are a success story. Emile's dedication to quality and detail can be seen in the quality of his wines. It can also be seen in the sophisticated look of the modern, glass bottles and the packaging. Their son, Colin, designed the logo and the packaging features glorious views of Orkney skies.

Related links

• Orkney Wine
• Orkney Enterprise