Naturally connected: our partners

South Tyrolean cheese specialities

 

It is passion that brought Hannes Rainer of the Naturhotel and Hubert Stockner of the Genussbunker together. A passion for quality and the pleasure of natural food.

 

The collaboration began in 2017 with the words of a long-time friend: 'You absolutely must get to know Hubi, you'll love him!' And indeed, our two nature lovers, to whom sustainable production of quality food and collaboration between small local producers is close to the heart, connected at once.

 

Since then, the different types of cheese from the Genussbunker have been a ‘natural’ at the Naturhotel Rainer like pine needles on pine trees. Hubert Stockner is the expert par excellence when it comes to sustainable storage/maturing of the best raw milk cheeses and tasting of selected natural products. He is not only a master cheesemaker, but also a qualified fromelier and beer sommelier. Hubi is also a nature lover, a hunter and a visionary when it comes to quality food products.

 

Our partner goes to great lengths for its products, sourcing the necessary ingredients from small farmers and cheese suppliers, whom we can also visit in advance, thus fulfilling the promise made to you, i.e. that of knowing the origin of the food served at the Naturhotel Rainer.

 

Do you want to know what Hannes' favourite varieties are? Here they are:

• BergGenuss: an exceptionally creamy cheese made from cow's milk
• Pecorino: a sheep's milk cheese with a pleasantly savoury taste and characteristic appearance
• Bergkäse Premium: a creamy flavour and exquisite aroma that develop after at least 22 months of storage in the bunker.

Quality ‘farmhouse’ beer from South Tyrol

 

The Naturhotel Rainer is not only an energy centre but also a place to enjoy the best beer in South Tyrol.

 

Matthias Volgger - our certified beer sommelier, fitness coach, aufguss master, hiking guide and nutritionist - is the Guggenbräu craft beer specialist and, like all our natural brewers, an advocate of pure taste. For this reason, he and his wife Kathrin have made a unique decision for South Tyrol: to produce the ingredients required for the beer themselves on their farm in San Genesio Atesino. Almost madness, don't you think?

 

So, said and done. Now the two grow their own hops, malt barley and wheat, from which Guggenbräu craft beer is brewed in its seasonal varieties. So, if you love beer as an absolute pleasure, this product is ideal for you!

Natural flowers from South Tyrol

 

Sabrina Rainer, Hannes' sister, looks after the presentation of the alpine beauty of Val di Giovo in our Naturhotel. She is an expert in floristics and a floral designer for hotels, exhibitions and seminars.

 

Fascinated by floristics from a young age, she now lives her love of nature, flowers and herbs professionally as well. From spring to autumn, she is out in the mountains around Naturhotel Rainer collecting everything she finds, from wild herbs and sprouts to berries and roots. Gifts from centuries-old forests. With her refined sense for the beauty of the details that nature offers, she creates real eye catchers out of natural materials.

 

Her absolute favourite plant is rhododendron, especially the leaves and branches, which she regularly uses to make extraordinary decorative creations for our hotel.

 

Sabrina's motto: ‘live with nature and natural cycles, not against them.’ ‘We must respect nature for what it is. Only then can we do something for the environment’. The zero waste principle is a matter of course for her, the key point of her natural floriculture.

 

Among other things, her works of art are created on the 'Gassgut' farm, the birthplace of the Rainer family and also the farm where we produce our special lamb, goat and pork meat. We also breed oxen and calves here - and Sabrina continues to manage it all with much love in the unspoilt Val di Giovo.

Florian Obkircher

 

Fermentation is part of our natural cuisine, and fermentation in natural cuisine cannot be separated from Florian’s products.

 

On the Val di Fleres farm, seasonal vegetables, various types of salad, turnips, cabbage and especially potatoes are grown. The harsh climate of Val di Fleres gives all these foods a special, full flavour.

 

And then, what we find fantastic is that at the Lenzenhof farm 'ancient', sometimes forgotten vegetable varieties are cultivated, such as parsnips, swedes and different types of red beet, which serve as the basis for giving traditional dishes a new, delicious twist.

Natural South Tyrolean honey

 

Do you prefer to take your honey from the jar or taste it straight from the honeycomb? At the Naturhotel Rainer we have a South Tyrolean specialist for this too.

 

Erich Larcher from Sant'Andrea near Bressanone provides us with the best honey. As president of the South Tyrolean organisation for the breeding of queen bees of the 'Apis Mellifera Carnica' species, also known as the 'Carnica bee', since 1988 he has been protecting and breeding this prized breed of bees, which has already received several awards for its high quality.

 

The calm and gentle Carnica bee brings us the excellent honey, honeycomb and pollen for our breakfast buffet, which, thanks to the variety of flowers surrounding Sant'Andrea, will delight you with a particularly full and varied flavour. But that's not all!

 

Here in Val di Giovo, we also use rhododendron honey from our Ontrattalm pasture. Produced by our uncle Raimund, this golden, sweet food is used in our natural gourmet kitchen and in the Naturea SPA.

Following the cycle of nature

 

Natural farming in harmony with the cycle of nature is possible. Our partner Wastnerhof shows us how.

 

The butcher's shop on the Wastnerhof farm in Stilves, near Vipiteno, is an excellent example of how agriculture can work effectively in harmony with nature. How does it work? First of all, the feed for the animals is produced entirely on the farm's own fields and only manure from the farm's own animals is used to fertilize the fields. The fields are in turn used to sow and cultivate a wide variety of products. Very reminiscent of what we do with our land, isn't it?

 

And then: the potatoes, for example, are still tamped (freed from weeds) with a plough pulled by a Haflinger horse. These sustainable cultivation methods make the food even more genuine, healthy and tasty.

 

Farming that follows nature's cycle eliminates all the problems that plague us today, such as waste, long-distance transport, chemical additives, intensive animal husbandry and food that is harvested while still unripe and therefore lacking in flavour and nutritional value. This is one of the reasons why we are very happy that the Wastnerhof has been one of our natural partners since 2018. From this farm we source vegetables, potatoes and cereals, as well as turkey and Duroc pork for our Naturhotel.

 

Best of all, we work closely with honest farmers and friends and receive fresh, nutritious and healthy produce of the highest quality. Transforming them into culinary creations for our guests at the Naturhotel Rainer to experience many natural flavours is, and remains, our great passion.

A ‘diversified’ neighbour

 

This farm is convincing us more and more because everyone feels at home there - especially the goats. These four-legged friends in fact produce excellent milk, which is also used to make delicious goat cheese in the farm's own cheese factory.

 

From our Naturhotel you can easily reach the Sennerhof via a small path along the stream, past the fish ponds. Once there, you will also understand why the cheese tastes so special: the goats graze freely in the fields around this picture-postcard farm and enjoy the freedom of nature. They feed on wild, fresh grasses that give the cheese an elegant, savoury aroma.

 

If you would like to enjoy these tasty delicacies at home too, you can stock up on goat cheese and other souvenirs in the small shop on the farm. Various types of cheese are produced here: fresh coarse-grained, semi-hard and, more recently, hard ripened. The doors of the dairy are also open to visitors.

 

The Sennerhof, in the picturesque Val di Giovo, has always been a neighbour of ours, and in 2019 our valuable partnership was launched. The proximity to our Naturhotel, in particular, guarantees a sustainable kind of collaboration thanks to the short delivery route - and we look forward to making plans for the future with this natural partner as well. As always, we already have some ideas. You will be thrilled!

Fine herbs from the mountains of South Tyrol

 

Gabi and Sepp Holzer, with Bernhard Auckenthaler, are experts in mountain herbs and their cultivation, and run a company with the same philosophy and sustainability orientation as our Naturhotel Rainer.

 

The Wipptal aroma gardens include the Steirerhof in Prati di Vizze and the Botenhof in Val di Fleres. These small family-run farms are characterised above all by their connection to the region and their love of nature around Vipiteno and the Brenner Pass. The two farms are jointly managed by the trio, who have been involved in herb cultivation for many years. The passion for plants and the joy of working together in harmony with nature have led to the cultivation of various medicinal and aromatic herbs according to organic criteria. The different altitudes and soil conditions in the gardens allow the natural needs of the plants to be optimally met. The focus is always on quality rather than mass production. The three focused on this overall concept well before sustainability became a trend.

 

Naturhotel Rainer has been collaborating with the aromatic gardens of Val di Vizze for many years, and the herbs planted in the hotel garden come from there. Cultivated with heart and head rather than with pesticides.

 

In our natural gourmet kitchen, herbs enhance the dishes, while liqueurs and schnapps (which you can of course also find in our bar) worthily accompany the delicious desserts. To enjoy our quality herbs at home, there is also our small natural shop Naturado, which has been selling teas and liqueurs from the aromatic gardens of Val di Vizze for two years now.

 

Does Hannes also have a favourite product?

Of course! In addition to home-grown herbs, he also likes 'Alpenlimoncello'. It tastes like limoncello but is made with local herbs: apple mint and lemon verbena.

Farmhouse ice cream from South Tyrol

 

How do you recognise happy cows? By a really creamy vanilla ice cream, for example, since it has milk as its main ingredient. And the origin of the milk is important: at Gostnerhof, 15 farm-owned cows produce it.

 

To find this organic farm, however, you'll have to search a bit, because it is well hidden in the natural surroundings, in a picturesque location in the forest, at an altitude of 1,140 metres a.s.l., behind the 'tree hotel', the Südtiroler Baumhotel in Sant’Andrea. But what exactly makes the difference in milk?

 

The cows on the Gostnerhof farm live in an open-stall barn and in the summer they always graze in the adjacent meadow, where they eat fresh mountain grass and the best hay from organic farms. This makes the milk particularly tasty and creamy, enriched with a high percentage of fat and protein. All this is important so that you can blissfully enjoy this gluten-free ice cream with your eyes closed.

 

In addition to ice cream, there are also sorbets, naturally prepared with homemade yoghurt and fruit from the farm or in any case from South Tyrol. The sorbets are lactose-free and contain neither bulking agents nor artificial flavourings. Here, too, you will therefore treat your body to pure nature.

 

A small anecdote: the family of the owner of our Naturhotel, Kathrin Rainer, lived there some time ago. We are therefore proud to have this environmentally aware partner at our side.