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THE STORY BEHIND OUR
Project

The vineyards in Frønningen and Leikanger were founded with one strong influence in mind: to prove ourselves, that impossible can be possible, grape vines can be grown and wine can be made from them in Norway, at 61.2 Degrees North.

After years of looking into this project (with numerous hours of searching for the most suitable sites), finally, in December 2018, with the original setup at FreyjaVin, we made the decision to get going. With some of our initial own funds, also with promises for financial help from Innovation Norway and several other local organizations, in February, 2019 we decided to plant our first 3500 grape vines in Sogn og Fjordane. We were given verbal support and reassurance of financial help, several grants were promised to fulfil our dream. Everybody was so supportive and believed in the success of this project, mainly because of the unique location of it. With the aim of boosting local tourism, also with possibilities of providing work places for some locals, we were the winners with our idea. In the first instance we had to get some land, buy the plants and put the application in for the grants. Sounded easy, therefore we decided to go for it. 

But.......

As soon as the lands were sorted, contracts signed, plants, growing tubes, steel supports arrived, everything changed.

Unfortunately, Innovation Norway was unable to grant us the promised funds due to unforeseen circumstances, however we are lucky enough to be able to continue without their support.

We did know there were risks involved (such as the weather conditions because of the location), but we still believed in it. Even with a very tight personal budget, we decided to go for it, no matter what. We can't give up just now! We have quite a few babies to look after! Without any professional equipment, what we wanted to finance from the promised grants, every single task had to be done manually, by us. Weeks of planning, soil preparation and hole digging, our 3500 vines were planted. 

After a few months they started growing, shoots and leaves appeared. They just wanted to give back all the love we gave to them. A couple of years on they are still going strong.

The structure of the company changed at the beginning of 2020. Due to family relocation, it's only Vilhelm and Zsuzsanna who are dealing with the vineyards now. It's not easy work, loads of tears but also laughters, FreyjaVin is here to succeed.

Climate change? Micro-, macro- meso-climate? Who knows. Only one thing matters, the 3500 plants. They are happy and want to prove the success to those who didn't believe in them.

We have room to plant another 28ha, but we don't want to expand just yet. Let’s see what the future brings and go with the flow. You can keep up to date with our progress in the News section and monthly images in the Gallery.

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