Kvernhuset

Kvernhuset, Ulvik.

The slope

Nothing about the orchard at Kvernhuset is convenient. It faces the fjord at roughly 30 degrees, which is excellent for sunlight and ripening and terrible for every other part of growing apples. No machine has ever worked here. Everything is picked by hand, carried by hand, and taken down by a small track that Lars Bjotveit's grandfather built out of stubbornness.

The reward is fruit with a concentration you do not get on flat land. The cost is that a harvest takes six weeks and needs eleven people.

Four generations, one press

The press dates from 1954 and is the second the farm has owned. Lars has been offered modern replacements twice. He points out, reasonably, that the old one works, that he can repair it himself, and that it presses slowly enough to avoid heating the juice.

The cider is made in the traditional Hardanger way, with a second fermentation in the bottle, and it carries the protected designation for the region. About 9,000 bottles a year – roughly the same as in his father's time.

Selling nine thousand bottles

Small producers in Norway face an obvious problem: the state alcohol monopoly controls most retail. Kvernhuset sells at the farm, to restaurants, and through the limited local-producer channels available.

It works, but only just, and only because people come to the farm. That is why the visit matters as much as the bottle – and why Lars has slowly, reluctantly, become a host as well as a farmer.

My grandfather planted trees he knew he would never harvest properly. That is the whole job, really.

Why it is here

• Authenticity

  Everything is picked and carried by hand. No machine has ever worked this slope.

• Story

  Four generations, one press, and a grandfather who planted trees he would never harvest.

• Quality

  Second fermentation in the bottle, and the protected designation for the region.

• Unique experience

  A thirty-degree orchard above the fjord. The fruit tastes of the difficulty.

• Local value

  Nine thousand bottles a year, sold at the farm and to restaurants that come to collect.