After the rice purchase at the markets we head 12 km to go to a balsamic making vineyard that has been recommended by some locals.
So just a 12 km or so trip out of town on a country road so that won't take long.....wrong it is the scariest 12 km across the flood plains on roads that are 2 way but really are only just wide enough for a car and a push bike. Oh and to make it just a bit more of a challenge the roads are the levy banks so with drop off of 2 m each side with no verge, so no room for errors. The fields to either side were a maze of different crops from chard, spring onions, corn, eggplants, zucchini all 1 acres and grown right next to wheat crops.
But the Italians still drive even on the country roads like they have escaped from a mental institute, straight at you and at high speed. Thankfully for the occasional driveway that you both seam to rush too so that you have just a bit more space to squeeze by.
I finally arrive more than a bit frazzled and looking more of a drink to soothe the nerves rather than a balsamic vinegar.....
This balsamic vineyard is a 5th generation business, so young in the balsamic industry, it is a great big stone warehouse and the old farm house has been turned into the tasting rooms. We are greeted and shown around by the current owner the grandson and with a law degree, he has decided to take on the family business so one would think that it a pretty good business to give up your law degree. We are told that balsamic vinegar dates back to the 10 century when one king gave it to a noble person in another country and over the centuries it was mostly made by monks.
Balsamic vinegar is made from juice of crushed lambrusco and trebbiano grapes and heated in large vats to low temperatures (90 deg) for 12 hr producing what they call mosto cotto. It looses 50 % of it volume at this stage. This is then put into big timber barrels for several years letting them naturally evaporate and ferment. After the time in the big barrels it is then taken upstairs into the ageing rooms which are ventilated only to allow for air circulation but not for temperature control, so the 40 deg hot summers down to the below 0 winter all work their magic on the balsamic.
Each year the barrels graduate down in size until you end up with a small barrel of about 20 litre. So from 200 litre the remaining liquid due to evaporation is put in a smaller barrel of different timber they use chestnut, cherry, walnut, oak and hazelnut.
Suba another product that they also make and is a sweet molasses non fermented product used as a glaze for meats dishes. We had in on the eel dish at Osteria Franchescanna last night so the memory of that sweet rich caramelised eel dish is quickly bought back. Suba is made from the same grapes as the Balsamic vinegar and is also heated in large vats on low temperatures (90 deg) but for 30 hr producing what they call Suba. It looses 70 % of it volume over the cooking stage and is then bottled ready for sale.
We try several of the younger 8 year old sweet balsamic more used for dressing on salads. We then move to some aged 15, 20 and 25 year these are more for a drop or two on a finished dish and the memories of the tasting that we did some 10 years ago come flooding back.... they are so rich, smooth and delicately sweet. We are hooked again and a sale is done. The laws have changed in the last 10 years and we are only able to buy in 100 mm registered bottles shape.
They are now DOC also to help protect the balsamic industry. The 3 little bottles average out at about 70€ each so $95 ish per 100 ml so if you equate it to a bottle of wine it would cost about $750 so it is an expensive drop one could say, but with the years to make and the work to create it, one would never quiver over the price, in this life you get what you pay for.
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