Hotel in Chiusa / Valle Isarco - in South Tyrol. Törggelen

Törggelen time - Farmhouse gormandisingWhen sweet chestnuts – called “Keschtn” in South Tyrol – ripen towards the end of September numerous winegrowers open their cosy parlours and cellars to regale visitors with their home-grown wine and home-cooked local fare. The autumn tradition of rambling through South Tyrol’s valleys and tasting the young wine along with roast chestnuts and seasonal dishes is called “Törggelen”.The Törggelen period, which we practice also in our house, lasts from late September to the middle or end of November.The small town of Chiusa/Klausen is offering an all-round "Törggelen" experience on three Saturdays in September, 12./29.09. & 06.10.2012 with typical food products, local fare and wine available for savouring in the narrow streets and squares.The history of TörggelenTörggelen is an old custom dating back to the times when wine merchants would visit winegrowers to taste the latest vintage straight from the press, normally between October and early December. ConceptThe name comes from the Italian noun for a screw press, torchio, and the verb “torchiare” from the Latin “torculum” and the verb “torquere”. In South Tyrolean it developed into the diminutive word “Törggele” (“c” is often pronounced as double “g”), hence the verb törggelen. In any case, in South Tyrol the name for the custom grew up around the concept of an old wood-beam screw press for grapes.OriginsThe tradition is said to have originated in the Valle Isarco/Eisacktal valley, an area which does not produce large quantities of wine. The following explanation seems the most plausible: Many of the valley’s winegrowers kept livestock and would send their cows, horses etc up to the high pastures for the summer to save grass in the valley to make hay for the winter. On their return, the herdsmen would be regaled by the winegrower and his wife with an autumn feast and the new wine. Törggelen was the conclusion of a kind of barter exchange. The tasting would take place in the press room, i.e., where the “Törggele” stood. Afterwards they would sit down in the living room in jolly company for a festive dinner.Another explanation is that seasonal workers on the farmstead would be rewarded with a feast at the end of the harvest.Wine and chestnutsSweet chestnut trees have been growing in the southern Alps since before the Roman era. The first evidence of a chestnut culture in South Tyrol goes back to the Lombard times (around 600 AD). As winegrowing increased in importance during the Middle Ages the demand for chestnut wood to make casks increased. However, the popularity of chestnuts as food is usually ascribed to the monasteries. A soup made from chestnuts and beans called “Fiseiln-Supp”, was a common and popular Lenten food. In the Middle Ages the Bavarian prelate monasteries owned extensive vineyards in South Tyrol and used their produce to make altar wine, though also tavern wine. Benedictine monks enjoyed their food and it is quite feasible that they discovered long ago how roast chestnuts and new wine was a match “made in heaven”.CuisineA typical Törggele meal includes sweet grape juice straight from the press (Siasser) and young, naturally clouded wine, with roast chestnuts and perhaps sweet ‘krapfen’ served at the end of the meal. At one time the main course would bespeck and smoked sausages called “kaminwurzen”, usually homemade or simple dishes from South Tyrol’s rural cuisine. Today it would more likely to be a substantial “Schlachtplatte” (“slaughterhouse platter”) with boiled bacon, sauerkraut, various sausages, knödel etc.