Sønderborg´s Visselulle is among Denmark´s best wine bars

“And yes, there is a risk if you don’t sell the wine. But we almost always do, because a reasonable proportion of our guests want to broaden their wine horizons, and here they can do so by buying a single glass. For example, we offered Domaine De La Romanée Conti, Vosne-Romanée 1. Cru Cuvee DuvaultBlochet by the glass for DKK 1,200 for 5 cl”. He emphasizes that Visselulle also has wines for those who want to enjoy a good glass at a much cheaper price.

In the harbour, Visselulle’s Vinbar is located in an absolute oasis. The area attracts a large number of local enthusiasts and visiting connoisseurs. On its left, you’ll find Iskonditoriet, which serves homemade ice cream voted Denmark’s best, while the neighbour on the right serves high-quality, authentic French bistro food at reasonable prices.

Visselulle itself attracts those who want a particularly good wine experience and perhaps a snack in the form of foie gras, sardines, caviar or other tinned food – which Kristian Lykke-Krogh himself calls preserved delights.

“Being able to indulge your taste buds while also being in the delightfully charming harbour area is an attractive combination. It is undoubtedly a great advantage for us that we are part of that environment”, he says.

A broken dream

Living of his passion for wine and being a star on the Danish wine scene was not the way of life he had envisioned as a young man, however. Far from it. If he had known that when he was lying on a cold sports court as a 19-year-old with a broken shoulder, a torn ligament, and a broken dream, the hopelessness would not have felt quite as all-encompassing as it did right there.

He had been playing handball since he was 2 years old. At the age of 17, he started his career as a professional handball player in Svendborg, where he was part of Team Denmark with Anja Andersen as coach. On that fateful day, was on his first time as SønderjyskE’s budding left-wing talent.

“Another player ran into me and hit me in such a way that the ligaments in the chest and around the shoulder blade were torn. Then my arm just dropped. I knew it was over then. There were many tears. I was due to attend the youth national team meeting to train and hopefully be selected for the Olympics shortly after”, he says.

He had previously had two knee operations and needed a third. As he was going under general anesthesia anyway for his shoulder, his knee was operated again. Rebuilding his life back in Sønderborg got off to a rough start. He needed two crutches, but could only use one arm.

“One arm was strapped to my stomach, so I could only hold one crutch. I had moved in with my parents, who lived on the first floor, so I had to go up and down stairs every day with a single crutch to relieve my operated knee. It was like that for 8 weeks. I had to complete my last year of college in Sønderborg, now that I no longer played in Svendborg, with my mother driving me to school and picking me up every day”.

After completing college, he chose to move to Copenhagen. There, he started a degree in energy technology and soon met his current wife, Mie Simone Lykke-Krogh, with whom he today has two sons.

An internship in ProjectZero brought him home to Sønderborg for a time, where he experienced how his hometown, in only a few years, had developed into an even more vibrant and interesting city, which he could actually see himself returning to and establishing himself in. So when he was offered permanent employment, the answer was yes. Mie was up for it too and started at the School of Nursing in Sønderborg.

“It was exactly what we needed. An easy life with plenty of fresh air and nature combined with the opportunities of a city, such as great cafes and restaurants.

We have never regretted that decision. If we hadn’t lived here, we wouldn’t have been able to live on a single income, enabling me to establish Visselulle’s Vinbar”, says Kristian Lykke-Krogh, who is proud to call himself “Sønderborg Born”.

Stored exclusive wines in his childhood bedroom

Kristian Lykke-Krogh has had an interest in wine since he was very young. During summers, he worked at Årøsund Badehotel, owned by his mother’s cousin, and he quickly became fascinated by the restaurant industry and not least the staff’s passion for wine. He also occasionally worked at Dyvig Badehotel, where his interest in wine increased.

As a budding entrepreneur and a reasonable amount of handball salary in his bank account, he had bought DKK 15,000 worth of wine in the classified adverts of “Den Blå Avis” as an 18-year-old.

“I saw an ad from a woman who had lost her husband and was now selling the contents of his wine cellar. I didn’t know much about wine, but she sent me a list where I could see what was there and what the bottles were bought for. When she sold them for less than what they were bought for, I thought it would work. So I bought a wine fridge for my room and drove to Vedbæk, where I picked up almost 100 bottles of wine”, he says.

The investment turned out to be good, and Kristian enjoyed exploring the wines he had bought. Gradually, he gained a network that also focused on wines, and when, after 5 years of employment at ProjectZero and Sønderborg Varme, he wanted to try something else, it had to be about wine.

“Some of my wine friends have a wine bar in Skagen, so they allowed me to stock up my new wine bar with their goods and only pay for them when I sold them. At the same time, I took over the apartment from my parents and got family and friends to help me decorate it. My first thought was to call the wine bar “Wine and tinned food”, but I was talked out of that. Instead, I named the bar after Visselulle”, he says, explaining:

“Visselulle was the nickname of Sønderborg’s only female dock worker ever. It was at the end of the 1800s. She was 1,9 metres tall, and on paydays she reportedly came to the port’s local tavern, where she picked up her drunken husband, threw him over her shoulder, and “lulled” him home. That took some courage and strength, so I wanted to name my wine bar after her”, says Kristian Lykke-Krogh.

Launch during a corona-closed Denmark

Friends and family worked hard to get ready for the launch on March 27, 2020. The day was approaching, and Kristian Lykke-Krogh was ready. The place was as just as he had dreamed it would be. He was pleased with the selection of wines, and he was looking forward to being able to start making money on his investment.

A few weeks before the opening, on 11 March 2020, while glued to the screen like most of Denmark, he heard Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen open a press conference with the words:

“What I want to say tonight will have major consequences for all Danes.” And other ominous phrases like:

“I also want to say quite frankly that we will not get through this as a country without it having costs. Businesses are going to experience losses.  Some people will lose their jobs, unfortunately”.

It was incomprehensible, says Kristian Lykke-Krogh. What now? What about the opening? And the customers, and the income he needed? Kristian investigated all available options and spoke to his accountant. It quickly became clear that he could not apply for any government support, so the only option was to open another way.

“So, I opened the window on March 27, 2020. I will never forget that date. We had planned a launch party and had 1400 people signed up for our event on Facebook. I put up a street sign with the words, “Wine to go”, and served people their wine in plastic glasses. At times, there were between 60 and 100 buying a glass to enjoy right there in the harbour. I made some wine boxes, which we delivered to the customers”, he says.

When Visselulle’s Vinbar finally opened to a seated audience, the clientele was therefore already large. It was Wednesday 20 May, at 3 pm. In Kristian’s words, Visselulle was overrun by customers who had been standing in the harbour waiting for the doors to open.

Visselulle’s Vinbar has made a profit in all four years that have passed since its opening. To begin with, the team consisted of Kristian himself and a good deal of help from his parents and wife, and the wine list consisted of two pages. Today, the commissioned wine has long since been paid off, so the stock is his own. The staff now includes trained sommeliers, and the wine list extends over 34 pages.

“We have come a long way and it has been a fantastic journey. I am very proud to have helped put Sønderborg on the gastronomic map, where Visselulle’s Vinbar has been nominated for awards in the same category as Syttende, Kong Hans Kælder, Alchemist, Geranium, Jordnær, and Kadeau. I see it as a fantastic recognition of hard work over the past years with my fantastic team, and not least fantastic customers who choose to come here”, he says, assuring us that the journey for Visselulle’s Vinbar certainly does not end here.