"Törggelen"

New wine, chestnuts. Friday in october 10.-17.-25.-31.10.2008

Törggelen is the magic word which draws thousands of people to the Burggrafenamt (Merano's surroundings) in autumn. Large crowds of guests, but locals too, flood the so-called Buschenschenken (taverns in which new local wines are served) and the pubs and inns of the area, in order to savour roast chestnuts and "Suser" (a local term for new, sweet wine which is not yet fully fermented). This is actually an old custom which is related to celebrating the harvest. No sooner was the new wine filled in barrels than the wine-growers moved from farm to farm to taste the new wine and establish who had managed to press the best one of the year.

The term "Törggelen" deviates from "Torggl", the room where the wine press then used to stand and where Törggelen took place as well. Meanwhile the location of late autumn Törggelen has been transferred to the "Buschenschenken". The chestnuts which are harvested around this season are a welcome occasion to stage a feast and round it off "sweetly".
These days a Törggele-meal includes either a Brettlmerende (afternoon snack) with spicy hard bread or rye bread, Speck (smoked bacon), Kaminwurze (a kind of smoked sausage) and spicy cheese or Hauswurst (cooked sausage) or pork with sauerkraut and finally always chestnuts and new wine to round the meal off.

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