Life & Style
Completely natural:
Zurich Oberland Venison
Healthy meat from sustainable breeding: Fallow deer from Felix Holenstein and venison civet from Dario Bianchi.
October 14, 2022
Text: David Schnapp | Photos: Valeriano Di Domenico
The forester and the deer. At the agreed time, Felix Holenstein arrives directly from the forest; “I am actually a district forester,” the 54-year-old explains. However, Holenstein also operates a fallow deer farm in Hittnau in the Zurich Oberland, where around 300 animals graze in various enclosures across a total of six hectares of meadowland featuring fruit, nut, and sweet chestnut trees. For around 20 years, Holenstein and his family have lived, so to speak, house-to-enclosure with the deer in an idyllic landscape bordering the forest. Nevertheless, the farm is by no means a petting zoo.
Suckler cow husbandry. “Fallow deer are and remain wild animals, and during the rutting season, it is not advisable to approach a buck; it can be dangerous,” explains Felix Holenstein. The breeding is managed according to the suckler cow principle; the calves remain in the herd for a year and a half and are then shot in the pasture by a gamekeeper before the next mating season begins.
Autumn mood in the Zurich Oberland: Breeder Felix Holenstein and specialty food merchant Dario Bianchi out and about in the fallow deer enclosure.
“Huge demand.” The lean meat of excellent quality is marketed and sold by specialty merchant Bianchi. “Demand is huge; the total of 40 animals we receive in two deliveries per year are usually sold out long in advance,” says Dario Bianchi, who leads the fifth generation of the specialty food company with the red lobster logo alongside his cousin Luca. The advantages of fallow deer meat are obvious: “The deer don’t actually need me at all; they are very low-maintenance animals,” says Felix Holenstein, explaining: “They don’t get sick, don’t need antibiotics, and require no additional feed other than some hay that we cut for the winter on adjacent meadows.”
One buck and many cows: Felix Holenstein’s fallow deer herd in Hittnau.
It doesn’t get more organic than this. There was nothing for the organic inspector, who recently visited, to do: a more natural husbandry than that of Holenstein’s “gourmet venison” is inconceivable. The fallow deer live on the expansive meadows all year round; they have access to fresh water and can retreat to a covered shelter if necessary.
Wild despite everything: Only a single cow eats out of Felix Holenstein’s hand.
Tender, lean, healthy. Due to the short fibers, fallow deer meat is comparable to roe deer; it is exceptionally tender, low in fat, and healthy: it contains—literally by nature—plenty of protein, iron, and vitamin B2. In the interest of sustainability and respect for the animal, it is also sold at Bianchi in “packages” that include not only the saddle but also shanks, shoulders, or cheeks. “We also produce venison civet in-house,” says Dario Bianchi about the closed utilization chain of this noble game meat.