HochgruberHof

HochgruberHof: a long, hard name for a good and natural cheese!

Pinzgau native cows produce excellent milk for excellent cheese. Let’s drive to Sud Tirol to taste some of their products!

HochgruberHof is a long and complicated name, and maybe, for those who don’t live in Sud Tirol, it sounds strong and hard. But we at Kaataa would like to introduce you to this amazing dairy that is neither hard nor strong. HochgruberHof is as soft, white, tender, and tasty as the cheese they produce.

The dairy is located in the Aurina Valley, right in the middle of Alto Adige, a North-East Italian region next to Austria. The wilderness of the Alps breeds a particular variety of cow, the Pinzgau, using wild mountain herbs and freshly-sourced water. How bad could a cheese be when surrounded by these features? Butter, fine yogurt, and various cheeses are the treasures of this dairy. They use a particular lactic bacterium inherited by Karl’s relatives, one of the main actors at HochgruberHof. 

Let’s prepare a metaphoric table of what this dairy offers, and then, with a full belly, we’ll explain better the features of the Pinzgau cow.

If you come to visit Karl and his friends in the HochgruberHof dairy, you can taste nussilla, a creamy cheese with flavors of liquor. It’s a strange pairing but, trust me, it’s wonderful! Are you still hungry? Don’t worry, there is also the rosemary cheese, an interesting product made with semi-skimmed milk that is naturally spicy with the balsamic help of the rosemary. There are also pressed cheeses similar to parmesan (but with characteristics of mountain cheese!) or the mattone, a semi-hard cheese made with milk from cows that eat wild and fresh hay.

Now that some of HochgruberHof’s products are on the table let’s talk about the animals that the milk comes from the Pinzgau cows.

The Pinzgau is a native animal of Bolzen and Austria that, thanks to its big nails, is perfectly suited to alpine slopes. Brown and white spots are the dress of this strong cow that is bred for two things; high-quality and quantity of milk, and fine and superb meat. Unfortunately, this cow is at risk of disappearing and becoming extinct due to the cross between races. This is the value of a dairy like HochgruberHof. They are totally linked to their territory, and they know the value of their traditions and heredity. They put their love for their land into their work, into their milk, and into their cows. Choosing a Pinzgau cow for their cheese is a sort of declaration of love for Sud Tirol, to give value to the difference and to the biodiversity, against the approval of flavors, of milks, of ….cows!

If you want to be part of this paradise of this partisan dairy, you can book a wonderful chalet made of wood. HochgruberHof’s family will be glad to host you and to share with you their passion for cows and….cheese!

Gornerberg 100, Selva Dei Molini, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy