Pecora Villnösser Brillenschaf
Villnösser Brillenschaf Sheep
The spectacled sheep of the Villnöss, the oldest breed in Alto Adige, formed in the 18th century out of a local strain of the Austrian Kärntner Brillenschaf, itself a cross of the Alte Heimische Landschläge with the Bergamasca and the Paduaner Seidenschaf. The fleece is white, the eyes ringed black, and at least a third to half of each ear is black too. It was kept for meat and wool.
Designation
- Certification
- Slow Food Presidium
- Category
- Fresh meat and offal
Where it is made
Funes, Villandro, Renon, Barbiano, Chiusa, Velturno, Luson, Laion and Valbadia comuni, Bolzano province
How it is made
It came through the 1930s breed-improvement policy, which set out to replace native livestock with more productive imports, because local farmers simply refused to give their sheep up. What is taking it now is the abandonment of alpine farming: 2,400 adult animals are left in all of Alto Adige.