Local flavours are crafted by hand at Häme’s vineyards and craft breweries

Next time you visit Häme, why not stop by a vineyard nestled against the backdrop of an old manor estate, or learn more about how local beers are made at a microbrewery?

Lepaa Winery has been operating for about 30 years, and training in the production of alcoholic beverages has been part of its activities right from the start. Lepaa is a unique learning environment in the alcohol industry in Finland; a large share of Finnish estate wine entrepreneurs train there.

“Over the years, training has expanded from estate wine to the production of microbrewed beers, ciders, liqueurs, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages,” says lecturer Miika Riekkinen, who teaches the production of alcoholic beverages at Lepaa Winery.

What tourists find most interesting, however, is getting to peek behind the doors of the vineyard. Take a guided production tour to learn about the production of estate wines, see the production facilities, and visit the sparkling wine cellar. At tastings, you can get to know Finnish wines or microbrewed beers under the guidance of an expert.

Lepaa Winery operates in an old stone barn built in the 1930s, amidst lush manor surroundings. The same building is home to a café and a shop, where you can buy Lepaa’s own wines, ciders, sparkling drinks, and microbrewed beers. The range also includes unique products not sold anywhere else.

The drinks at Lepaa Winery are made from Finnish ingredients. Some of the apples and berries grow at the vineyard, and additional raw materials are purchased from nearby berry farms.

Riekkinen says that red, black and white currants, apples, chokeberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and other fruits are used to make the wines. The sparkling wines also contain rhubarb.

At a Lepaa wine-tasting, you can taste Finnish wines under the guidance of an expert and learn about how the flavours are created. A tasting session usually includes four wines or beers and provides information about the ingredients, how the drinks are made, and how to pair them with different foods.

Finnish berry and fruit wines are still unknown to many, and that is precisely why a tasting session is an interesting part of a visit to a vineyard.

“People’s idea of Finnish berry wine often changes completely once they get to taste the wines at a tasting session. They are usually positively surprised,” says Riekkinen.

At a small vineyard, a drink’s journey from ingredients to bottle is a concrete one.

“At Lepaa, the berries are crushed and pressed on site, and production is not highly automated. At the microbrewery, for example, malt is also crushed by hand,” Riekkinen explains.

According to Riekkinen, the production of beverages is also continuous product development. Lepaa has experimented with utilising press residue in new products. One of the vineyard’s specialties is Lepaa Premium Apple Spirit, which is distilled twice from apple wine and matured in oak barrels.

Production is local, right from the field, the garden, and local producers all the way to the bottle or can. For visitors, a production tour reveals the amount of work and expertise that goes into the finished product.

A visit to the winery doesn’t have to be a standalone stop–why not make it part of a whole day of fun? Lepaa is an attractive tourist destination thanks to its environment, which offers a wide variety of things to see and do. For example, you can play golf in Lepaa even without a green card, and there are several interesting nature sites nearby that are fantastic for hikes.

Lepaa Winery is also easy to reach from Helsinki or Tampere, for example. The journey by car takes about an hour from both cities, and in the summer, you can also travel to Lepaa from Hämeenlinna by water. Cyclists can combine a visit to the winery with the nearby Häme by Cycle route network.

Riekkinen says that there is a desire to invest even more in tourism in the future.

“Plans include comprehensive experience packages for groups, and winery and microbrewery tours implemented in collaboration with other local operators.”

There are several microbreweries in Häme where tourists can learn about the different stages and equipment involved in local beer production.

Located in Hämeenlinna, Temperance Brewing Co. is a craft brewery founded in 2024 that produces a variety of craft beers. Guided tours of the brewery allow you to learn about how beer is made and how the brewery runs, plus taste the products.

Meanwhile in Forssa, Panimo OlutMylly is a family business and craft brewery established in 2018. Its range of products includes both traditional and more modern unfiltered beers. Brewery tours allow you to experience the story of the brewery and beer through taste.

Forssa Pilsner Fabrik is a microbrewery with strong roots in Forssa’s culture, with locality, Finnishness, and artisanal tradition at the core of its operations. The brewery’s pilsner, wheat beer, and sahti, Finnish rye beer, can also be enjoyed on site on the summer terrace and in the beer shed.

Kuninkaankartanon Panimo, located in Mustiala, Tammela, continues a microbrewery tradition that began in 1995. Learn more about the brewery’s products amid the historic scenery of Mustiala. Brewery tours and demonstrations of how beer is made are available for groups upon request.

Create your own winery and microbrewery tour in Häme! Find your next stop and explore Häme’s breweries and wineries here!