Truls Svendsen and Eyvind Hellstrøm have had success with several TV series and a cookbook. Now they want to fill up our wine glass, and it looks like they’re going to succeed, we’re to believe the company that distributes the company’s new wine.
In March, the duo launched the red wine Toscana Rosso in cartons, in the pole’s ordering range.
– It has been a sales success like no other, says Marianne Tyldum, “wine activist” in Rebel Group, which distributes the wine in Norway.
– We put out 3,000 bag-in boxes for order, and were sold out in a couple of days, Tyldum tells DinSide.
104 out of around 300 Vinmonopol ordered it into their range, but after a few weeks only a handful of Poles had the carton in stock.
In the next round, they received 1,500 cartons, and after two hours all had been ordered, according to the importer.
– A smashing success for a product that is launched in the order selection! This flew out of our warehouse faster than we could have imagined, says Tyldum.
– Very cool
Truls and Hellstrøm are busy recording new projects these days, but still have time to cheer a little about the sales during the breaks.
– It’s very cool that it’s already sold out, but the best thing is that it looks like those who buy the wine like it very much! The feedback has been brilliant, writes Truls Svendsen in an email to DinSide.
The duo has tasted a number of wines in search of the perfect blend. Sangiovese is the classic Tuscan grape, but a French grape type, merlot, was needed before they were satisfied.
– You cannot taste the difference in wine
– We hunted for the right combination for over a year, and eventually Eyvind thought we had to increase the amount of merlot, up to 30 per cent, and then it was like a bullet! says Truls.
Truls and Hellstrøm have secured a couple of cartons themselves, but they are not the ones who have emptied the warehouse. Last week there was one carton on Truls’ shelf, while Hellstrøm had secured two.
The selected
If you want to ensure you have a taste of the new wine, it may pay to turn around. It is no longer possible to order delivery, and in the capital only the Lambertseter pole has a few boxes left.
If round two flies off the shelves as quickly as the first delivery, more will still need to be added.
– The next delivery will be 5-6,000 cartons, says Tyldum.
They should have been in place around Easter.
The new wine
Truls & Hellstrøm are not the only celebrities who have put their name on a wine box or bottle. And despite the wild sales, there is still a long way to go until they reach the peak of celebrity.
Last year, the wine monopoly sold more than one million liters of Wongraven Morgenstern Riesling, and this is just one of the wines of Satyricon vocalist Sigurd Wongraven. With more than one million liters sold, Riesling is in fifth place on the best-selling list of all wines in 2022. His red wine Alleanza Langhe Rosso has sold more than half a million liters, and ends up in 17th place on the best-selling list.
Designers Arne and Carlos’ Rød Hyggevin is the next celebrity wine on the list, and this wine is listed in two places on the list, with a total of 420,000 litres.
Comedian Morten Ramm has been successful and won several awards with his Dramm licorice and chili, which is in 57th place on the bestseller list with more than 50,000 liters sold.
Thor Heyerdahl Pioneer grape spirit ends up notched further down on the bestseller list for spirits with more than 43,000 liters and then Brimi appears with Vianvang Dram, which has sold more than 12,000 liters, a couple of hundred liters more than Hellstrøm’s Aquavit.
