Valle Isarco: a Valley of Taste

Carving a reputation for excellence
The latest Michelin Guide highlights an unexpected privileged location for lovers of good food. Valle Isarco, the small South Tyrolean valley, now boasts four starred restaurants: il Tilia in the small resort village of Vandoies and Jasmin at the Bischofhof hotel in Chiusa had already established the area’s reputation for culinary excellence and are now joined for the first time by two new entries, Stafler in Mules near Vipiteno and The Passion in Vandoies. In Stafler, the restaurant found in the Romantikhotel in Mules, Chef Peter Girtler reinterprets traditional recipes using fresh herbs and selected produce from local farmers. Meanwhile, dining at La Passion means first-class regional cuisine and an extensive wine selection but only for a select few, with just four available tables within the intimate surroundings of a 16^th century wooden parlour room. Young chef, Martin Jasmin, provides some of the Isarco Valley’s most creative cuisine. His eponymous restaurant offers a delicate seafood menu, as well as a creative tasting menu featuring dishes such as foam of potato and truffle, sour cream and Beluga caviar, creamy watercress risotto and hay-cooked lamb. Finally, Il Tilia, also located in Vandoies, provides haute cuisine within the impeccable surroundings of an exclusive ancient home.

Eat well, drink better
If the valley’s fully justified reputation for culinary excellence has been confirmed with these awards, then equal measures of prestige and recognition have been bestowed upon the Tyrolean region’s winemaking industry, with four local wineries now featured on Italy’s “Best Of” list. Tre bicchieri [Three glass] Gambero Rossos awards went to winemaker Celestino Lucina winemaker at the Abbazia di Novacella for two super wines: the Alto Adige Valle Isarco Riesling Praepositus '06 and the Alto Adige Valle Isarco Sylvaner Praepositus ‘07. There was also recognition of other wines from the region including Riesling Kaiton'07 Kuenhof (Peter Pilger), the Sylvaner'07 R Köfererhof (Günther Kershbaumer), the Veltliner'07 Garlider (Christian Kerschbaumer) and theVeltliner'07 Hoandlhof (Manfred Nössing). Red wines are also surprisingly well represented, offering full-bodied depth and elegance derived from regional grapes such as Lagrein and Schiava.