Norway’s mountain restaurant with a 320,000-kroner bottle of wine and a vodka collection for Putin

A remote mountain restaurant in Geilo, once at the centre of a national Covid-19 scandal involving former prime minister Erna Solberg, houses one of Norway’s most exclusive wine cellars—alongside a growing collection of Russian vodka and a trove of tales from its colourful owner, writes Dagbladet.

Frode Aga, 70, has run Hallingstuene with his wife Berit Kongsvik for 38 years, turning it into a gourmet destination that has attracted heads of state, royalty, and celebrities—alongside well-heeled Norwegians willing to pay top prices for rare wines. The cellar now holds over 2,500 bottles valued at around 30 million kroner (approx. €2.6 million), including a 1990 Romanée-Conti priced at 320,000 kroner (€28,000) on the menu.

“This is the world’s most exclusive wine,” says restaurantsjef and sommelier Frank Ytterland, who notes the same bottle could fetch 500,000 kroner (€47,000) at auction. The collection also includes Madeira from the 1800s, Sherry from 1860, and wines hidden in walls during World War II. Aga jokes that selling just one bottle could fund a luxury holiday: “I think we’d have to auction it if my wife and I want a nice trip.”

The restaurant gained notoriety in 2021 when Solberg’s 60th birthday party—attended by 13 people during a 10-guest Covid limit—sparked a political controversy. Aga, who calls Solberg “a generous woman,” declines to revisit the incident: “I don’t want to rake that up. She should be left in peace.”

Beyond wine, Hallingstuene’s quirks include a ceiling lined with over 180 bottles of Russian vodka, a running joke among regulars. “A friend brought in a couple bottles years ago, and it just grew,” Aga explains. His wife once suggested inviting Vladimir Putin—“and then shooting him,” he adds with a laugh.

Aga, a former TV chef known for shows like Antikviteter og snurrepiperier and Kokkekamp, still works six days a week, prepping food by day and mingling with guests by night. His unfiltered humour (“I’ve never shaved under my nose”) and refusal to modernise (no SMS, no skiing in 50 years) add to the restaurant’s legend. Ytterland, who started as an apprentice 25 years ago, now manages the finances—“I quit paper invoices two years ago,” Aga admits—and curates the wine list, ranked among Norway’s top four.

As Easter crowds flock to Geilo, Aga shows no signs of slowing down. “I notice I’m not 25 anymore,” he says, “but the stories—and the wine—keep getting better.”