Five years later - we are starting to import our own wines

Rolling Cheese turns five next month.

Which still feels a bit unreal.

It all started in the midst of strange times

When we opened our doors on June 1, 2021, the world still felt strange and a bit fragile. We were emerging from a pandemic, though at the time it didn't quite feel like "emerging." We still wore masks behind the counter. Customers arrived with hand sanitizer and cautious optimism. Every sniffle seemed to require a diplomatic assessment of the situation.

And in the midst of all this, we opened a small cheese shop in Töölö.

And that's not all: Helsinki decided at the same time to turn into a Mediterranean heat cauldron. Our air conditioning fought valiantly but consistently lost. The power even gave out completely at times.

Next door, Mrs. Heinonen, who had been part of the block long before us, stood at the door of her small shop hoping for even a slight breeze and quietly observing the newcomers.

The shop itself was small. Really small.

We had about thirty cheeses, a modest selection of cold cuts, a few shelves of olives, pasta, and tinned fish, and something we ambitiously called a “wine bar”—though in reality it was one shared table for six.

And yet, on the very first day, the queue stretched out into the street.

Töölö had apparently been waiting for us!

We still remember how welcome we felt. And honestly, we still feel that way.

The small shop kept growing

Over the years, Rolling Cheese has transformed.

We've expanded twice, briefly experimented with a branch store, endlessly rearranged furniture, and assembled more IKEA shelves than any person should reasonably be required to. At the same time, the small six-seat wine bar has gradually grown much larger than we ever imagined.

And at some point, Rolling Cheese stopped being just a cheese shop.

It became a place where neighbors bump into each other, where you stay for "just one more glass," where lunch unknowingly extends into the afternoon, and where "I'm just popping in for some cheese for tonight" regularly turns into an armful of delicacies.

In the midst of all this, however, one thing has remained constant for us:

we are here to create happiness.

And perhaps that's why importing our own wines now feels less like a dramatic new direction and more like the same story, just continuing.

And like everything else, this too started with cheese

We originally met Jean-Baptiste at Mons Fromager Affineur. JB was our "cheese guy," thanks to whom our shelves were full of French cheese delights from the very beginning.

Even then, he balanced between two worlds: cheese and wine. Since then, he has graduated as a winemaker and joined his family's winery, Domaine des Palais in Ambierle, Côte Roannaise, France.

Now, a few years later, his wines are arriving here in Helsinki.

The first domaines whose wines we will be pouring at Rolling Cheese are Domaine des Palais and Domaine de l’Argentière.

Domaine des Palais

Domaine des Palais is small - truly small.

Yann Palais, JB's father, revived the dormant family estate in 2000 after nearly fifty quiet years, slowly rebuilding it parcel by parcel. Organic farming was adopted in 2009.

Today, the estate has about eight hectares of vineyards, and annual production hovers around 40,000 bottles. In the wine world, that's practically a negligible amount.

But these wines have thought, energy, and above all, drinkability: peppery Gamay from granite soil, elegant Syrah, textural white wines, and small cuvées that feel made for actual tables rather than just tasting notes.

Le Carré du Prieur 2025 lasted about eleven minutes the first time we opened a bottle at the shop, which felt like a promising sign.

L’Écho d’une Cloche 2025 goes deeper and in a spicier direction – the kind of wine that belongs alongside roasted chicken and washed-rind cheeses.

Le Feu de la Madonne 2025 beautifully combines Viognier and Roussanne: floral, textural, and rich without ever becoming heavy.

And then there's Un Zeste de Folie 2025, a small orange wine production from Viognier and Gewürztraminer. Just wild enough.

Domaine de l’Argentière

The wines of Domaine de l’Argentière, coming from Visan in the Southern Rhône, have a similar energy and unique character.

The estate has been in the same family for four generations, but its current phase really began in 2022 when Johan and Stéphanie returned home after years spent in harvests and wineries around the world.

The idea was simple: to make wines with freshness, energy, and life.

The vineyards are organically farmed, fermentations are done with wild yeasts, and despite the Southern Rhône sun, the wines remain bright, vibrant, and wonderfully drinkable.

Khrôma Blanc 2025 is textural, salty, and herbaceous in a way that immediately makes you think of food.

Khrôma Rouge 2025 combines Grenache, Carignan, and Syrah with freshness and spice rather than just power.

And Pétugue 2025 — named after the hoopoe that returns to the domaine's garden every spring — is exactly the kind of bottle that mysteriously disappears while the conversation is still ongoing.

Five years later

For us, importing wines isn't really about wanting to become a "wine company."

It's about getting closer to the producers we believe in. Direct relationships. Bottles that genuinely feel right for how we think, eat, drink, and serve food and wine at Rolling Cheese.

It's also about curiosity. After five years, we wanted to continue growing in a way that still feels personal — not bigger just for the sake of growth, but closer to the things we truly care about.

More good bottles.

More good people.

More stories worth telling.

And like everything else at Rolling Cheese, this too started with cheese.

The first wines arrive this week, just in time for our birthday.

Which means that in the coming days, we will most likely open quite a few bottles.

And honestly, we’ve certainly earned it.