Post by Ella.
Yesterday we decided to have our dinner at home. At the end of the day, we stopped at a large Co-op market for supplies. I haven’t been drinking much this trip and Grubb gave it up a few years ago but I was in the mood for some wine. Norway isn’t known for wine making but when we were in Denmark, all the grocery stores had a nice selection of imports and I managed to find a bottle of reasonably priced Vino Verdi. I expected the same here.
Beer drinkers rejoice. At any grocery store here, the beer aisles are overflowing with craft beers and ciders. But, you will not find a single bottle of wine, or perish the thought, hard liquor. You want a cocktail or a glass of wine? Head to a pub or restaurant. You can get a glass of the cheapest house wine for 125 NOK ($11.68).
Not knowing the laws, I figured, okay, maybe this Co-op just didn’t have whatever license the liquor laws required. I turned to Google. “Wine shops near me”. There was one nearby. We dropped the groceries at home and went the 10 minute walk. The shop was nowhere to be found. Oy! But we did walk by the Parliment building.
Restaurants and bars can offer wine and cocktails. You want to serve Negronis or wine to your dinner guests at home? You have to seek out state-run or monitored liquor stores. Called Vinmonopolets.
Yep, liquor is a state run enterprise and the state doesn’t want you over-consuming those loaded-with-alcohol drinks. Seems odd for such a progressive place but according to one source, Norwegians are mostly happy with this state of affairs. At grocery stores, you can only buy the beer or cider and only before 6pm, but never on a Sunday. Plan ahead!
Can you say TAX.?
The Alcoholic Beverage Tax (ABV) is levied on not only the alcohol, but the packaging as well. Applies to locally produced as well as imports.
Here’s what I found on their translated tax authority page for 2023 tax rates.
1 NOK = $0.093 so divide NOK by 10 and subtract a wee bit to get a ball park.
| Spirits-based beveragesin excess of 0.7 volume percent | NOK 8.45 per volume percent per litre |
| Alcoholic beveragesin excess of 0.7 percent and up to 2.7 percent by volume | NOK 3.40 per litre |
| Alcoholic beveragesin excess of 2.7 percent and up to 3.7 percent by volume | NOK 12.79 per litre |
| Alcoholic beverages in excess of 3.7 percent and up to 4.7 percent by volume | NOK 22.15 per litre |
| Alcoholic beveragesin excess of 4.7 percent and up to 22 percent by volume | NOK 4.95 per volume percent per litre |
Is this because they have had problems with alcoholism? it seems the farther north a country is the more it has alcoholism problems.
Yes, that’s my understanding. But I haven’t researched the evolution of or.
I would have gone for the cider. I like cider much more than beer. The cider-making process is, I think, more like wine than beer.
Norwegians never drink and drive. The legal intoxication threshold for driving is (New Mexico and most states is 0.08): 0.00. Yes, none, nada, zit.
0.02 now in Norway. Maybe you can have half a beer now and drive.