The family grow their own grapes on the property and harvest in the fall. They then cook down the juice and begin the long evaporation process. They have many barrels of varying sizes up in the attic of one of the buildings. The barrels are stored on their sides and have square holes cut in them, covered with cloth. The vinegar is poured first into the larger barrels and allowed to evaporate over the course of the year. As it becomes more concentrated, it is poured into smaller barrels until it finally goes into the smallest barrels, which looked to be about 2 gallon size. Our host told us that some of his barrels were at least 200 years old.
All of the vinegar is aged at least 18 years, and the best is 25 years old. We tasted both varieties, and they were both very good, though you could certainly tell that the older one was better. I couldn't afford the oldest one, though. I got a bottle of the not quite so old variety, 100 mL, and it was still 40 Euro.
There are, of course, large companies that manufacture aceto balsamico as well, of varying qualities and prices. The more aged and better quality, the more expensive, but most are still reasonable. My bottle from the tour will be saved for special occasions, but I have found another variety at the grocery store for everyday use. It's about 12 Euro for 250 mL, and is still good quality. Some of the cheap varieties are not very good, and you have to be sure that it says from Modena on the label.
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar is about the only salad dressing available in Italy in restaurants, but as long as the balsamic vinegar is good quality it's quite nice. Balsamic vinegar can also be used to marinate meat and vegetables. Our host for the tour even had jellies and sauces made with it.
1 comment:
You will have to ship some to Us!!Stock up while you are there, because these food finds are hunt to find good quality and rare food finds.
Kary and Cigale
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