IN THE MOUNTAINS LEARNING ABOUT TASTE AND SUSTAINABILITY IN ALTO ADIGE, BETWEEN SKI SLOPES AND FINE DINING TABLES

We start from Alto Adige South Tyrol, which in terms of mountains, has come a long way in environmental protection and sustainable approach, and continues to do so, in particular in terms of food, wine and tourism. Read on for important stories from this area which can be a positive model for many other regions of Italy. We then expand to other areas where the ski season invites us to have open-air experiences and where the food and wine aspect is also crucial. For the territory itself and for our emotional satisfaction, introducing little-known and significant realities.

words and images by Massimiliano

Rella

If in Bressanone drinkable water is a precious commodity that's bottled, in the picturesque Val di Funes, land of popular mountaineer Reinhold Messner - remember his slogan?

"Altissima, Purissima, Levissima" – the Black Spectacled sheep is a good reason for gourmands to visit; to think that it risked extinction... But what is the link between a country that fights against plastic bottles and a secluded mountain community that values a native sheep variety? Answer: the same common thread that connects a Caldaro winery like Kaltern, which has reduced the use of glass in its bottles, to a Michelin Star restaurant in Nova Levante like Johannesstube, which enhances native, rare, exotic herbs and vegetables grown specifically for its kitchen. That is, apparently there's no connection, but on closer inspection everything makes perfect sense: it is all held together by the glue of sustainability. Environmental, social, economic.

This ambitious triptych of challenges in Alto Adige, a territory capable of creating a common system, has long been a ground for discussion and innovation also in the food and wine sector, with good experience on topics that move sensitivities, consumption and lifestyles across sectors and which accompany us in the years to come with transitions driven by European policies, managed locally and accelerated after the pandemic. One can only go forward: a step back is a misstep.

: un passo indietro è un passo falso.

FROM THE VEGETABLE GARDEN TO THE TABLE, THE SYNERGIES OF SUSTAINABLE CUISINE

Among small vegetable gardens, ecocompatible hotels, green restaurants and virtuous suppliers, "ethical" words and formulas such as food safety, wholesomeness, naturalness, find sub- stance in new actions, behaviours and gastronomic proposals that respect the environment and communities, in a difficult balance with economic sustainability. Examples? Models? Experiences? Even before the pandemic, Bressanone launched the Refill campaign to replace single-use plastic with stainless steel bottles, inviting to fill containers with public water - in the city drinking fountains, chalets, in the Plose points - 26 free charging points for e-bikes outside hotels and restaurants. Everyone furthermore offers water from the valley springs in a glass jug on the restaurant table, for example on the good one of Viel Nois to accompany traditional dishes such as Tris di Canederli (speck, spinach, cheese) and a peasant Rosticciata, panfried beef, potatoes, onions and rosemary that's truly mouth-watering. The jugs are customised with the Viel Wossor logo, translated as "Lots of Water;" the water of a community that protects the valley, which boasts three wood-fired district heating centres, a municipal one (Energie Villnöss) in which inhabitants are shareholders and a very low-impact landscape of poles, pipes, dangling wires and electric cables flying: none in sight –buried instead like fibre optics.

Obereggen is a well-known tourist resort dedicated to the world of skiing but also known to the gourmand public for its gastronomic offer and its green curiosities. At the Sonnalp Gourmetstube, for example, chef Martin Köhl uses regional products and reinterprets Alto Adige cuisine with Mediterranean influences: the Val Passiria char with Aldein mushrooms on a bed of barley and wild celery is excellent, as well as deer fillets in fir olive oil with pear in red wine, pepper and almond sauce.

Instead, at the Zischghof hotel, the passion for nature has prompted the Pichler family to offer customers guided walks in search of wild and aromatic herbs in the fields and woods, then used in the kitchen and in the Spa to make homemade creams and ointments. «We offer free mini lessons, themed dishes and natural products – young Walter Pichler tells us – These are experiences that make you remember the hospitality of our territory.»

The latest initiative by Norbert Niederkofler, chef Tre Forchette at St. Hubertus is equally unforgettable. At the top of Plan de Corones, a ski resort at an altitude of 2,000 metres, he created AlpiNN, a restaurant with a spatial view and a concept which, from furnishings to recipes, incorporates the Cook the Mountain philosophy. AlpiNN is a modern mountain stube with large and bright super panoramic windows, white lamps made with pig bladder, larch parquet flooring with interlocking planksno nails - and a ceiling with loden panels painted with cold paint - no water. The open kitchen is entrusted to young Sar-

NEW GOURMET ROUTES.

The Case Of The Black Spectacled Sheep

iIt's called Villnösser Brillenschaf, it's the Val di Funes sheep, the result of a cross between the bergamasca breed and padovana breed in the 19th century and it is very efficient in the production of wool, an important economic activity at the time. The Furchetta project, supported by the European Social Fund, has made it possible to enhance this endangered species in the kitchen and in textiles, guaranteeing a fair income to breeders, about fifty farmers in the area of the Dolomites. The project has also trained three ladies of the village to crochet (hats and winter accessories). The wool is also sold to a technical clothing company for the internal lining of sports and mountain garments. Today farmers sell a tonne of it per year, previously they disposed of it for a fee as special waste. For each animal sold, the receipt indicates the meat price and the wool price. The Black Spectacled Sheep, so called because of the "frame" around the eyes (there is also a rare entirely black variant) has tender meat with a fine structure, flavourful, delicate and not very fatty. Mountain breed, light and agile, it is fed on pastures, in the summer at high elevation alpage. Chef Oskar Messner of the Pitzock restaurant, as well as head of the Slow Food Presidium, enhances it by proposing a very tender lamb shank on risotto with herbs, in ragù (also sold in a jar) and with a line of cured meats. «We are happy, it is much more than selling a product – says Messner – The sheep has become an element of tourist-gastronomic attraction.» dinian chef Fabio Curreli who brings territory and sustainability to the table: no greenhouse ingredients, no citrus fruits and extra virgin olive oil, but meat from animals purchased in full, fermentation techniques, plum ketchup, biodiversity ingredients, wild herbs, mushrooms, aromatic leaves. And no fizzy drinks either, but native juices – elderberry, raspberry, apple, pear – and water from a spring located 100 metres below the ski slopes, filtered and mineralised with Best Water Technology system; 50 cents per litre is donated to well building projects in Asia and Africa. And to complete the list is a single vehicle for the round of suppliers, the "green" energy of Alperia and the separate waste collection done with a snowcat, a single one for all the chalets present on Plan de Corones. Cook the Mountain by Niederkofler is definitely in good company. In the Due Forchette in Nova Levante Johannesstube, the restaurant of the En-

11. Chef Oskar Messner (right) in charge of the Furchetta project for the Spectacled Sheep of the Val di Funes with breeder Bernhard Profanter

2. Onion, onion and Sasso Nero: onion cooked in ashes, au gratin with Sasso Nero cheese from Valle Aurina and crisp sour onion top. Appetiser of panoramic AlpiNN restaurant in Plan de Corones

3. Chef Theodor Falser of Michelin star studded restaurant Johannesstube in the herb and vegetable greenhouse of Eiathhof farm, of young farmer Michael Pfeifer

In the opening, the Sonnalp Gourmetstube, in Nova Ponente (BZ)

1 Onion, onion and Sasso Nero AlpiNN, chef Fabio Curreli

A. A. Valle Isarco Sylvaner R ’20 Köfererhof – Günther Kerschbaumer Varna/Vahrn (BZ) – fraz. Novacella koefererhof.it

The onions are cooked in ash and au gratin with Sasso Nero cheese from Valle Aurina and seasoned with crisp sour onion. The sweetness of the onion and the acidic saltiness of the Sasso Nero recall a gritty and slender white: Sylvaner R accompanies the smoky notes without exaggerating the freshness.

2 Deer, almond puree, cacao, biattl’n Finsterwirt (Oste Scuro), chef Hubert Ploner

A. A. Santa Maddalena V.

5 DISHES, 5 CHEF AND 5 WINES

Rondell ’21 – Glögglhof

Franz Gojer – Bolzano/Bozen (BZ) fraz. Santa Maddalena – gojer.it

The aromatic complexity of the dish, combined with the personality of the deer and cacao, requires a wine of character and capable of extricating itself from a terrain full of pitfalls. Coming from the most obvious solutions, here is a Santa Maddalena which also offers a great propensity to drink.

3 Whitefish, black root, sumac, buttermilk, red cabbage

Johannesstube dell’Engel gourmet & spa Hotel, chef Theodor Falser

A. A. Pinot Bianco Sirmian ’20 Nals Margreid – Nalles/Nals (BZ) nalsmargreid.com

The delicate whitefish is accompanied by a fine and articulated aromat-

Rare Vegetable Gardens And Surprise Effect For Green Kitchens

Leaves with an oyster flavour, sparkling watercress, peppery mountain herbs, sweetish amaranth – a vegetable oxymoron – plus "asparagus" lettuce and "strawberry" spinach. On the mountains of Barbiano, among meadows and woods, there is a small farm that grows 800 varieties of fruit, vegetables, herbs and local and exotic plants for haute cuisine. It's called Aspinger De Horto Naturali, where the owner Harald Gasser cultivates a 5,000 square metre vegetable garden with native and non-native essences, hailing from Japan to the Andes. Initially he worked with private individuals then he helped found Manna Organic, a network of virtuous farmers (about ten in the Isarco Valley alone) who rationalise deliveries and reduce environmental impact. Some time ago Gasser clashed with local institutions and the Terna company over a high voltage pylon installed a short distance from his rare vegetable garden.

At Maso Eisath Hof young farmer Michael Pfeifer (internship with Gasser) cultivates 500 rare, ancient, native and exotic varieties over 1,200 metres in height, in the Nova Ponente area. These include Peruvian oca (Oxalis tuberosa) a yellow, crisp, sweet and sour tuber; garlic cress, parsnip, nasturtium tuber (strong, with a spicy finish, the berry treated like a brined "Alpine caper") and many yellow, black tomatoes, "pineapple" tomatoes, "fireworks" tomatoes, oxheart and wild heirloom varieties. At the base there is a naturalist philosophy: zero km, no chemicals, only natural fertilisers, maximum reduction of plastic, recycled pots, silk bags around the plants to avoid cross contamination in the greenhouse. Pfeifer collaborates with the chefs, in particular with Theodor Falser, of Johannesstube (Due Forchette).

ic expression. A white that retraces the same path is certainly this beautiful Pinot Bianco from the high hills: a glass that has the same aromatic finesse and a delicate but incisive sip that marries perfectly with whitefish.

4 Local beef cheek with cinnamon flower and red wine sauce, parsnip puree, herb canederli and potato blatten

Gourmetstube del Sonnalp, chef Martin Köhl

A. A. Lagrein Ris. ’19 Pfannenstielhof – Johannes Pfeifer Bolzano/Bozen (BZ) pfannenstielhof.it

Stimulating dish, where the gustatory fullness of the meat plays the leading role. Requires deep wines with a good structure like this Lagrein: the power of the sip is never excessive gel gourmet & spa Hotel, chef Theodor Falser proposes Taste Nature: 5, 7 or 9 "steps'' to savour nature and at the same time propose a way of conceiving life. With experience in Switzerland, Dubai, China, Malaysia and Oman, Falser creates contemporary and seasonal cuisine with broad horizons made with local ingredients, vegetable fermentations, miso and other homemade condiments, and collaborates with a young farmer (see sidebar) who supplies hundreds of varieties of tomatoes, herbs and vegetables. An emblematic recipe is his "120 out of 1,200" born from this partnership, which is made of wheat spaghetti from Val Venosta with a sauce made from 120 different tomatoes grown at an altitude of 1,200; all peeled, the skins dried, pulverised and used as grated "cheese." At the base is a black tomato sauce.

Final stop at Tilia di Dobbiaco (Una Forchetta) where chef Chris Oberham- and the rich fruity expression is perfect to accompany traditional cuisine.

5 Val di Funes Black

Spectacled lamb shank served on risotto with herbs

Osteria Pitzock, chef Oskar Messner

A. A. Pinot Nero Vom Kalk ‘18 Ignaz Niedrist – Appiano/Eppan (BZ) fraz. Cornaiano/Girlan ignazniedrist.com

The character of the shank alternates with delicate vegetable sensations. A Pinot Noir like Vom Kalk, played more on aromatic depth and finesse rather than power, will elegantly accompany this dish.

– Nicola Frasson

mer prepares contemporary cuisine following his Mons Natural Food, a vision that involves a network of farmers with whom he agrees a fair price to support the crops, ensuring constant yield of regional products, seasonal, sustainable, honest, environmentally friendly. Not abstract concepts but tangible goods (and flavours). His symbolic dish is «creamed farro with lettuce puree and smoked wild trout mousse from Lake Dobbiaco,» the trout are caught on a hook by his life partner and sommelier Anita.

If The World Of Wine Guides The Transition

Needless to say but Bacchus is a forerunner, not just a tempter. Before the pandemic, the Consorzio Vini Alto Adige launched the ambitious Agenda 2030 sustainability project, in line with the strategic changes set by the United Nations. «It is our path for the future and involves five fields of action: the soil, the territory, the vineyards, the wine and the people,» underlines Director Eduard Bernhart. Agenda 2030 was born with long de-carbonisation objectives and proceeds year by year on several levels - from biodegradable materials to the prohibition of herbicides, from phytosanitary defence to carbon footprint - involving the community of winemakers to create consensus on the transition in the wine world. There are many actions and ideas and the most innovative, historic or structured companies are already ahead in the game.

Founded in 1142 as the second oldest winery in Italy – after the Castello di Brolio in Tuscany, from the previous year – it can be said that at the Novacella Abbey sustainability is in the "genetics” of facts. At first approach one notices a special care and respect. Among its three vegetable gardens, for ex-

Addresses

Wineries

 Abbazia di Novacella

Varna (BZ) – fraz. Novacella – via Abbazia, 1 0472836189 – kloster-neustift.it

 Kaltern

Caldaro (BZ) – via delle Cantine, 12 0461963149 – kellereikaltern.com

 Hofstätter

Termeno (BZ) – p.zza Municipi,o 7 0471860161 – hofstatter.com

 Pacherhof

Novacella (BZ) – fraz. Varna – via Michael Pacher, 1 – 0472835717 –pacherhof.com

 Strasserhof

Novacella (BZ) – fraz. Varna –Unterrain, 8 0472830804 – strasserhof.info

Restaurants

St. Hubertus dell'Hotel Rosa

Alpina Badia (BZ) – fraz. San Cassiano s.da Micurá de Rü, 20 

Addresses

SPECK OF ALTO ADIGE, FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE AND BUNKER CHEESES ample, "the flower bed of biodiversity" is an Eldorado of butterflies and insects full of ancient apple trees, free to grow without human intervention. While the garden of aromatic and medicinal herbs contains species used by Saint Hildegard of Bingen herself, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess and scholar of natural and "spiritual" medicine.

«We are thinking of a sustainability project for the entire production, focused on animal welfare and the further development of renewable energy,» explains the Director of the Consortium, Martin Knoll, underlining a topic that is very much felt today after the increase in costs, despite the fact that hydroelectricity is highly developed in Alto Adige. Through the Speck Academy, the Speck Consortium furthermore organises training courses for restaurateurs, retailers and enthusiasts, with a focus on local gastronomy.

Karuna Chocolate is a Velturno chocolate laboratory, the passion and challenge of Armin and Katya, who select, roast and grind cacao beans from fair trade plantations in South America, Asia and Africa; cacao butter with organic Nacional Arriba from Ecuador and Peru. The products are made with the Bean to Bar method.

Degust, on the other hand, is the place of cheese refiner and chef Hansi Baumgartner, one of the most authoritative in Italy: over 250 specialities, about seventy from Alto Adige, including Alpine cheeses from Trentino, Friuli and Piemonte. His research and selection of artisanal products and dairies – small and medium-sized, which work with raw milk, cow's, goat's and sheep's milk – finds ideal ageing rooms in a World War II bunker located in Rio di Pusteria.

At the time a hospice for pilgrims, today the abbey has a public school in German for 90 boys with a campus and sports facilities and welcomes thousands of tourists attracted both by the abbey and by the quality wines that make up the main product of this reality: 850,000 bottles a year (75% white) with attention to typical grapes of the Germanic world, kerner, sylvaner, riesling, grüner veltliner.

«We have existed since 1142 and sustainability has always been a heartfelt and important theme - says Elias Holzer, manager of the cellar - Since 1992 we have been self-sufficient in electricity and heat, we have a hydroelectric station and one powered by wood stumps from our forests, a thousand hectares of our own woodland. For some time now we have eliminated plastic components, pesticides and herbicides from the vineyards. We only do mechanical weeding.»

On Lake Caldaro the breath of two winds refreshes the vineyards and the valley: they are Ora del Garda (a Mediterranean breath that rises from the south) and a breeze that descends from the peaks of Passo Mendola, scented with pine needles. In this postcard scenario, the dominus is Kaltern, a 4 million bottle cooperative winery, which has grown through successive mergers, the last one in 2016 between Erste+Neue and Kellerei Kaltern. Unity is strength but it involves reorganisations, such as the unification of the cru vineyards under a single line - Quintessenz - linked to a zoning project. In 2018, however, before Agenda

0471849500 – st-hubertus.it

AlpiNN

Brunico (BZ) – loc. Plan de Corones 0474431072 – alpinn.it

 Finsterwirt – Oste Scuro

Bressanone (BZ) – v.lo Duomo, 3 0472835343 – finsterwirt.com

Johannesstube

Nova Levante (BZ) – via S. Valentino, 3 0471613131 – johannesstube.com

 Pitzock Funes (BZ) – Pizack, 30 0472840127 – pitzock.com

 Sonnalp Gourmetstube Obereggen/Nova Ponente (BZ) –Obereggen, 28 0471615842 – sonnalp.com

Tilia

Dobbiaco (BZ) – via Dolomiti 31/b 3358127783 – tilia.bz

 Viel Nois Funes (BZ) – San Pietro, 8 0472840526 – vielnois.com

 Zischghof Obereggen/Nova Ponente – Obereggen, 9 0471615761 – zischghof.it/it

 Leitlhof

San Candido (Bz) – via Pusteria, 29 0474913440 – leitlhof.com

 Löwenhof

Varna (Bz) – via Brennero, 60 0472836216 – loewenhof.it

Foodshop

 Aspinger De Horto Naturali Barbiano (BZ) – Saubach, 29 3357085311 – aspinger.com

 Degust Varna (BZ) – Bsackerau, 1 0472849873 – degust.com

 Karuna Chocolate Chiusa (BZ) – Prato dell’Ospizio, 12) – 4° piano karunachocolate.it

 Maso Eisath Hof Nova Ponente (BZ) – Rio Nero, 12 –feisathhof

Info

 Ente Turismo Alto Adige suedtirol.info

 Ente Turismo Bressanone brixen.org

 Idm Südtirol idm-suedtirol.com

 Lago di Caldaro kalterersee.com

 Latemar (stazione sci) latemar.it

 Plose (stazione sci) plose.org

2030, Kaltern adhered to Fair & Green, a sustainability certification created by German wine makers for wine producers. The project has taken into account various actions: green manure between the rows and creation of green islands in the vineyard with typical essences and olive trees to increase biodiversity; a solar panel roof that ensures 45% of energy; free bike rental to local employees to reduce pollution.

«But the biggest action - underlines oenologist Andrea Moser - was on the weight of the bottles, since 60-70% of the carbon footprint of a finished product is attributable to glass. For the Quintessenz line we have dropped from 800 to 500 grams, eliminating 39 tonnes of glass out of a total of 130,000 pieces. On the Classica line, 1.3 million bottles, the weight has dropped from 520 to 470 grams with a glass saving of 65 tonnes every year.»

The Organic Choice

Another story. Strasserhof is one of the oldest wineries in the Isarco Valley, located 700 metres above sea level in a sunny position. Producer Hannes

Baumgartner also leads the Alto Adige Winegrowers Association, 105 small vignerons with 1-2 hectares of vineyards which together represent just 5% of the provincial production. «But we are registering a good trend of conversion to Organic farming: already 35 of us are – points out Baumgartner – Sustainability is an important transition, not a slogan, and we need to take it one step at a time. It's been 10 years already that we've eliminated herbicides, but for Alto Adige it is a complex project and an ambitious goal: we have 5,000 farmers who do other things as their first job, for them reducing or eliminating herbicides means longer working hours. The results will be seen in the long run, the important thing is to have started.»

Hofstätter is a well-known winery in Termeno, one of the largest privately owned in the Alto Adige province: 55 hectares of vineyards, a network of trusted suppliers for another 80 hectares, an enoteca wine shop under the historic vaults of the centre, the cellar in a sixteenth-century mansion and a tasting room inside a modern "wine tower" panelled in wood, a vertical architectural challenge facing the bell tower of Santi Quirico e Giulitta. «Sustainability is a delicate issue - Martin Foradori Hofstätter begins - With great changes come more natural alternatives to cultivation, but I notice a radicalisation on both sides. The correct way is in the middle: there is something positive in the conventional that makes use of modern technologies as well as in the trend of natural wine. Let's take herbicides: today there is no need, there are machines that do not damage the vineyard. Plastic materials have long since disappeared: biodegradable materials and metal poles are used for bindings, which are more durable than wooden ones. However, we must ask ourselves at community level what hap- pens with phytosanitary treatments: is there more impact with different copper treatments, or with a single targeted conventional treatment, when it is necessary? What's more natural?»

Ancient And Modern

Interesting questions, which we can also translate into the architecture of wine. I mean, what's more natural? The ancient or the modern? Pacherhof is the perfect answer: a hotel with outdoor swimming pool, Tyrolean stube and restaurant (whose philosophy is "from the garden to the plate") and a cellar that is a model of the combination of tradition and modernity, in shapes and materials. It is the small kingdom of wine producer Andreas Huber. His sister Monika, on the other hand, manages the accommodation facility with the help of her husband Michael Laimer, former provincial energy councillor, in short, someone who knows the subject. As a matter of fact the entire structure is powered

100% by renewable energy sources and has been connected to district heating for 20 years in the municipality of Varna, fueled by wood. But the most emblematic thing concerns the architecture of the cellar, designed by Bergmeisterwolf studio in Bressanone.

«According to a provincial law that protects the integrity of monuments recognised as historic - Laimer begins - the modern architectural interventions are distinct and therefore cannot come into contact with the old and protected areas of the ancient farm.»

Old and new, near and far, touch each other without ever touching: small gaps, separating spaces filled with stones, mini supports that distance an electric cable by a few centimetres from contact with a historic wall. Everything down to the smallest detail, in pure Tyrolean precision. Sustainability is said to require extra effort and pay off in the long run. Commitment to the present, investment in the future.

GRAUKÄSE DELLA VALLE AURINA, EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABILITY

Wrinkled on the outside, lighter and more crumbly on the inside, irregular shaped, strong flavour and penetrating smell: Graukäse is an excellence of the Valle Aurina, an artisan product made at home for centuries. Today it is produced "commercially" by three small producers. Translated from German as "grey cheese" it is an Alto Adige excellence that's increasingly valued by the dining sector. It is the oxygen for the sustenance and sustainability of the supply chain.

«Chefs use it in the most creative dishes and young people are starting to show interest. It was included in the teachings of the professional agricultural school of Tedone, near Brunico,» says Martin Pircher , head of the Slow Food praesidium.

Graukäse belongs to the family of acidic coagulation cheeses: made with skimmed milk acidified by heat or with the addition of sour milk or whey from the previous batch, primarily using the milk of Bruna Alpina and Pinzgauer cow breeds. The production process is important: the skimmed milk from the cream used for butter is mixed with the following day's milkings, up to 6 (the equivalent of 3 days). This promotes natural acidification. The proteins coagulate when heated to 45°C. With a skimmer, the curd is collected in wooden baskets, sprinkled with a pinch of salt, stirred and pressed by hand to release the whey. It ages for an average of 4 weeks.

4. View of Lake Caldaro (Kaltern) from the vineyards

5. Michael Laimer in the family cellar, Pacherhof, in Varna (BZ)

6. Wheels of Graukäse in maturation: the "grey cheese" Slow Food praesidium of Valle Aurina