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Wine

“Törggeln” comes from the Italian word “torquere”, to press wine. What started out as a relaxed social gathering among wine farmers developed into a huge tourist attraction.

In its beginnings “Törggelen” was all about tasting the season’s new wine. Wine farmers would invite their neighbors and farmhands to sample their wines together with speck, walnuts, sweet chestnuts and music. More often than not these leisurely gatherings turned into late and drunk parties.

As early as in the 60ies some resourceful South Tiroleans saw the potential of Törggelen as a great tourist attraction and started to promote this “old tradition” near and far. A lot of money went into advertising and before long tourist came in droves. Wine farmers who were hoping to cash in on this fad were quick to turn their once intimate Törggelen evenings into large, well-organized tourist events. Today Törggelen nights are offered on an almost daily basis over several weeks.

In the 80ies visitors who were fed up with this “touristic approach” started searching for the pure and untainted Törggelen nights. Addresses of places yet untouched by mass tourism were treated like secret information and only passed on to a few. But given the economic importance of Törggelen those hot tips among insiders quickly turned into places for organized coach travels. However, there still are a few people out there who have not yet given up on their quest to find the authentic South Tirol. And with some luck you can still find them, the wine farmers who are not willing to partake in this sellout. However, typically you need to know the wine farmer in person to be invited to a private event.

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