Gourmetrestaurant Alps & Ocean im Hotel Sonnenhof

Where are the nation's best wine cellars? Anyone who thinks they have already finished with the "Palais Coburg" in Vienna and "Burg Vital" in Lech has missed out on a secret of the Alps. Another one, which has just been awarded a prize by the US magazine "Wine Spectator", can be found in Grän. Grän?

This village of 639 people in the Außerfern is largely unknown even among Tyroleans. The 4-star superior hotel "Sonnenhof" is located right next to the lift of a small ski resort. Rainer Müller calls his hotel a "vacation hotel for sporty connoisseurs" - in addition to half board and the "Das Müller" restaurant, there is also the "Alps & Ocean" gourmet restaurant. The patron has been passionate about wine for decades.

His wife Christina says of the current level: "I got to know him with 120 bottles of wine. According to the inventory, there are now 2900." And the stock? 27,000.

A wine list is no longer enough, so there are 50 pages each of whites plus champagne and 50 pages of reds. To be found there: Burgundy from sought-after winegrowers such as Prieuré Roch or Trapet. Romanée Conti is also there. 16 vintages of Pontet Canet, 10 of Sassicaia.

There are 60 (!) positions from Roagna. The great whites of Austria are all there, from the Champagne region you'll find a sparkling wine (Emmanuel Brochet, La Closerie) and lots of Bollinger - there's the "Ambassador" hotel. And particularly striking - you can't get a better price.

Many top wines are below the hundred euro threshold, while elsewhere some bottles cost twice as much. "We want the wine to be drunk," is the patron's sober explanation. And the food? Rainer Müller's brother Patrick and himself take care of that - both trained chefs with no stints in large establishments, but with plenty of flair.

The menu at "Alps & Ocean" offers six rather classic courses with great products - without frippery and effects. Mullet tartare is seasoned with dill, bedded in oyster leaves and served with pike caviar. Breton turbot is served on the leading Japanese koshihikari rice with chanterelles and leek oil, topped with summer truffles from the nearby Allgäu region. Then sweetbreads of Tyrolean veal with Périgueux sauce, poussin and baba au rhum - in the style of Ducasse with a choice of four rums plus Crème Chantilly.

So it's no wonder that wine connoisseurs from nearby Germany regularly stop by here, as well as winegrowers who want to draw on the full potential of other people's cellars. Absurd: the restaurant is not even listed in the Michelin Guide.