&gt; The Swedish government has a monopoly on the sell of alcohol, price is two to three times more expensive than the rest of Europe<p>Look, sure the industrially produced crap is expensive, but the good stuff is cheap! In Norway, Finland and Sweden, never buy whatever has the lowest price, it&#x27;s in the mid-range you get the good stuff. Try to shop for some good single malt whiskey, XO+ Cognac, aged rum -- or just good wine (<i>not</i> &quot;table wine&quot;) -- and you&#x27;re likely to find that the government stores carry a wide variety, and that prices aren&#x27;t all that high.<p>Now, if you want a <i>cheap</i> bottle of wine... yeah. You won&#x27;t find anything you can just use to reduce a sauce without feeling like you&#x27;re lighting money on fire.<p>I remember going to a wine tasting, and a representation from France said that the (now no longer) specialist store in Oslo was one of the best Wine shops in all of Europe -- because they had such a great variety. You can go to France and find wines they don&#x27;t carry, but on the other hand they have great French wines, <i>and</i> great wines from all over the world.<p>All that said, I&#x27;m not happy that there&#x27;s no such thing as a cheap, good beer in Norway...<p>Eg:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wine-searcher.com&#x2F;find&#x2F;a+e+dor+vielle+reserve+no+8" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wine-searcher.com&#x2F;find&#x2F;a+e+dor+vielle+reserve+no+...</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.vinmonopolet.no&#x2F;vareutvalg&#x2F;druebrennevin&#x2F;frankrike&#x2F;ae-dor-vielle-reserve-no-8&#x2F;sku-4516001" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.vinmonopolet.no&#x2F;vareutvalg&#x2F;druebrennevin&#x2F;frankrik...</a>