Concierge Blog
Shortly, at the Sparerhof, we will be proud to introduce you to yet another "0-kilometers producer"!
Recently we were guests at the Kornell winery with Florian, the owner, who showed us with great sympathy and great competence his estate and especially its basement. So we had the unique opportunity to try a product that still rests at the moment in the barrels and comes to the market in March. Of course, the opportunity was unique, to try even one or two more bottles (or perhaps there were more?)
The tasting was absolutely convincing and soon we will include Florian's wines in our wine selection. If you are curious to discover how our visit to the winery Kornell has been...well, I will only tell you one thing: it was very simple to take the steps down to the basement, but to hike them up again has been very, very difficult ....
Stay tuned!
In the heart of Ireland, between endless far land and sea, in the small village of Kilcogan, Galway, nestled in a unique bay, we have discovered a great treasure: Kellys Oyster Farm, THE oyster farm par excellence.
We could not resist, of course, to take this enjoyment producer into our team of suppliers. Kellys Oyster Farm exports high quality oysters, mussels and clams not only to Dublin, London, Dubai and Canada ... .no: soon also to Vilpian!
The Irish tradition requires the delicious molluscs to be served with a dark beer; we, however, look forward to enjoy to the valuable products, once they arrive in Terlan, with an excellent Terlaner classic and why not: also with an excellent South Tyrolean sparkling wine.
Of course, we immediately inform you as soon as the first shipment arrives!
Stay tuned!
Photo 2 & 3, provided by Diarmuid Kelly
Finally snow... finally snow flakes! And unexpectedly and silently as the snow has come, also the men choir from Terlan has arrived to the Sparerhof hotel and has been waiting with a surprise for the landlord, Mr Willy Sparer....
For his 85th birthday, the voiced Terlaner gave some congratulatory tunes to the best ...
Obviously it had to snow....
Greetings also came from faraway Dresden: not the 85th, but the 75th birthday ... .aunt Anneliese, a longtime guest at the Hotel Restaurant Sparerhof, has celebrated for more than ten times her 75th anniversary and did not want to get older. A fond memory of a dear guest.
Stay tuned!
Christmas at Hotel Restaurant Sparerhof ***
We wish all our Guests (those who have been here, those who are enjoying it here and those who will stay with us in the future) that you have experienced a peaceful Christmas and get a magnificent 2016 ...We send you our best wishes and hope to welcome you soon.
The owners
Stay tuned!
Video courtesy of Jochen Unterhofer, www.taenia.eu
Helma again goes down the steps, which for years have helped her to decorate the mannequins .... This time, though, for the last time ....
After more than 30 years, most of which the premises of Boutique Helma annexed at the Sparehof in Vilpiano, Helma Brugger,has decided to give another twist and turn to her life, and closes the historical store.
A unique boutique, founded by a mad love for fashion and her imagination to create something unique among the cities of Bolzano and Merano, a fashion checkpoint attached to the Sparehof in Vilpiano.
A touch of madness, of course, and also a lot of work, but it has been a wonderful experience for her customers and the entire community.
Therefore, dear Helma, a heartfelt thanks for having colored our days for so many years and a thousand wishes so that you can achieve all your dreams and we hope to see you often, between one trip to Ibiza and the other, sipping together coffee at Bar Blume...
As for the Sparehof ... it will certainly be difficult to replace the empty spaces left by Helma, but we will try to work hard to maintain the level the highest possible.
We already have some ideas and we expect to conclude the project by January, and if all goes well, continue with the phases of construction and commissioning on site during the months of February and March ....
And next April, if we're all good, the opening!
Of what? If you must know,
Stay tuned !!!!
only italian version available
Open letter
Chapeau Michl!
My dear cousin Michl, congratulations for the presentation of your native land, of which Vilpiano is also part of, which reciprocates by inviting tourists to visit your place. As manager of the Concierge blog I am usually not big about giving advertising space to products concerning other than gastronomy. But this is a good cause. Bravo, thus, for extolling the magic of South Tyrol in an advertisement that will have a deserved success not only for the brand represented, but also for the feeling that you have been able to pass. But this, as the success of the Hotel La Perla, is inherent to a style that focuses on being familiar. A style made of passion and search for the good things in life that we share at the Sparehof like that, dear Michl, for good wine .... Stay tuned!!!!
Planned was a report on asparagus from Terlan in the “New York Times”. We did the interview and wrote an article, unfortunately, but such is life, it wasn’t to be printed. Nonetheless, we didn’t want to withhold it from you:
THE FATHER; THE SON AND THE TERLANO ASPARAGUS
In Terlan, th asparagus stronghold in South Tyrol, the harvesz of the white vegetable has already begun in March. The “bringer of spring” gets harvested from the soil and lands on our plates as various delicacies. For Andreas Sparer, HGV chairman of Terlan, begins an intensive time. His father, Willy, cares for art, not only during the asparagus season.
For 45 years now, the art gallery Willy in the Hotel Sparerhof celebrates the start of the asparagus season with an art exhibition. This year’s artist: Albino Rossi.
Grey, massive mountains and black trees on silver and golden backgrounds decorate the walls. Lonely, small huts in the wilderness attract your attention. „It doesn’t seem this way, but Rossi is one of the greats.”, says Mister Willy about the artist from Trentino, whom he exhibits for the third time in 40 years now.
The almost 84 year-olds love for art stems from working in a book and art shop in Bolzano. He spent nearly 10 years there. “I’m addicted to art”, says Willy. When he started working in the hospitality business, he began to miss his passion and the world, people and culture surrounding it. So he brought the art with him to the small village of Vilpiano. He opened a gallery and realised his 50- year old idea to combine art and gastronomy.
For some time, Mister Willy focused looking for artists who drew asparagus. He has since distanced himself from this, since so he asks, “who would want to hang a picture of an asparagus in his home?”.
Though this year Albino Rossi has also drawn three specimens of the so called “bringer of spring”, onto his famed grey background.
The white vegetable is at the root of a small economic circle in the Etschtal valley, starting at the 15 asparagus farmers over to the vinery Terlan as a distributor for the so called, “asparagus-hosts”. “The ten asparagus hosts are obligated to only serve the fine Margarethe asparagus cultivated in Terlano.”, says Willy’s son Andreas Sparer. The protected Margarethe asparagus guaranties the vegetables freshness and quality.
Name giver of the Terlano asparagus, Margarethe, countess of Tyrol, is said to have resided some time ago in the castle Neuhaus, also known as Maultasch, above Terlano.
About 65.000 kgs of asparagus are harvested each year in the Etschtal valley commune of Terlano. About 5 times that number are eaten each year in South Tyrol. “A lot of farmers see an alternative in the asparagus to the somewhat monotonous apple cultivation.”, says Andreas Sparer. On the question of the current financial situation taking its toll on the asparagus business, Andreas Sparer responds by saying: “No, the asparagus is a niche product and lives from its own characteristics.” While he and the other asparagus restaurants care for the needs of the customers, who come from far and near to the Vilpian-Terlan-Siebeneich asparagus triangle, Willy Sparer uses the asparaguses moment in the limelight to attract some additional attention to the art.
“Every year at our vernissage to celebrate the beginning of the asparagus season, we see a lot of people who wouldn’t be here any other time”, says Mister Willy. He opened his gallery in 1970 with an exhibition by the Italian artist and sculptor Remo Brindisi. Since then he curated more than 250 exhibitions. Some of them include famous artists from South Tyrol like Robert Scherer, the caricaturist Pepi Tischler, Max Sparer, who primarily drew pictures of farmers during work, or Ruth Gamper, who makes art from recycled trash.
During Willy’s primetime there were new exhibitions almost every month, nowadays he does two a year and is thrilled about every person who is interested in art and stumbles upon his small gallery.
His private collection stretches about 100 works, art is Willy’s passion and while his son Andreas is more focused on gastronomy then art, they both share their love for the Terlan asparagus.
All those who are interested in the unique vegetable can pilgrimage to its stronghold in South Tyrol until the end of May. That’s when the bringer of springs season ends, the menus in the restaurants change and the paintings in Willy’s gallery change once again.
Text & Pict; Simone Mayr
Translation: Moritz
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Quality is our credo and this accompanies us to our deepest wine cellar. We are pleased with our success in the following:
The Terlan cellar remains the best in its class: in its large cooperative test, the trade magazine "Weinwirtschaft" awarded the Terlan cellar to Italy's number one. The jurors tested the wines from 40 quality establishments all over Italy and finally confirmed the supremacy of the Terlaners, which, like in 2013 and 2014, were able to contend with the strong competition.
"The re-election to the best cooperative in Italy is a great honor for us and shows that in our case, quality does not depend on the factory," emphasizes Georg Höller, chairman of Terlan. "Weinwirtschaft" is undoubtedly the most important and influential source of information for the professional wine sector in the German-speaking world. Crucial for the choice of Terlans was the highest rating in the wine tasting. "On the test stand were six red and white wines per farm. This includes not only top wines, but also wines from the basic lines, "says Höller. The winery Terlan convinced the jurors, among others, with wines such as the Sauvignon Quartz 2013 as the best-rated white wine (91 points) and the Vorberg Weißburgunder Riserva 2012 (89 points).
Behind the Terlan cellar, which won the title of "Best cooperative in Italy 2015", the tradtion Tramin, the winery Erste + Neue from Kaltern and the other Andrian co-operatives from South Tyrol. "Despite or precisely because of the difficult topography, South Tyrol draws its natural and human resources better than many other regions in Italy. Well-trained wine specialists with the will to the highest quality stand as a driver behind this exemplary development, "write the jurors of the" wine industry ".
Fotocredit: Ziegler / wine industry
During a beautiful autumn day, there's nothing more beautiful than to start hunting for chestnuts and leave behind, at least for a day, the frenzy and stress .... We thus took public transportation, first the train to Bolzano and then the cable car up to the Renon.
From there, the picturesque train to Colalbo and then a short walk brought us to the Dolomitenhof, where we met our friends Helmuth and Katia.
Together we drank with a good glass of Kerner wine and gathered all the information for a walk on the road of the chestnuts ... and off we went!
Surrounded by very warm colors of autumn, as evidenced by the photos, we crossed Siffian and then, finally, came to Unterinn, where we arrived at the Kiniger farm where, perhaps by chance, perhaps not, the brother of Katia spoiled us serving us great bacon and roasted chestnuts, accompanied by new wine!
Stay tuned!!!!
Translation: Dott. Lisa Kostner
Top Gear enthusiastic men (and women?) all around the world. Frenetic engines, HP in abound and winding roads; who would not want to experience this?
The four Norwegians Frode, Arnfinn, Stein Erik and Håvard have set out to follow Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond's footsteps, on the unique streets of the Dolomite passes.
Although they were thrilled by the good food they found at the Hotel Restaurant Sparerhof, they could not hide their disappointment: while two of the Scandinavian giants were happy with their Mercedes AMG GT S, the other two wished for nothing less than a Porsche 911 with rich 520 HP; and had in fact to be satisfied "only" with a BMW 750 D, xDrive.
Can you imagine that?
Stay tuned!
