Defrutum Balsamic Vinegar IGP 16 Yr Aged

Defrutum 16-year aged balsamic vinegar IGP is a luxurious balsamic vinegar for special occasions. The long ageing process mellows out the flavours and gives this vinegar notes of caramel and vanilla.

Defrutum balsamic vinegar is made from the cooked grape must of Lambrusco grapes and a little wine vinegar. The grape must gives the balsamic its signature sweetness, while the wine vinegar adds sharpness and acidity.

This 16-year aged balsamic vinegar is thick, rich and sweet. It’s spectacular with ripe strawberries or even over vanilla ice cream. The syrupy vinegar is also great for dotting starter plates, or for adding an intense hit of sweet acidity to a fig and goats’ cheese salad.

You can even enjoy balsamic vinegar of this age as a digestif. A teaspoon of aged balsamic vinegar after a heavy meal is said to settle the stomach, plus it’s sweet enough to feel like dessert!

Defrutum 16-year aged balsamic vinegar has been awarded IGP, or Indicazione Geografica Protetta, status. This shows that it is one of the protected classifications of balsamic vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. The production process is rigorously monitored – and unlike ‘balsamic condiment’ or cheaper ‘balsamic vinegars’ – which usually have no ageing, true Balsamic Vinegar of Modena must be aged for a minimum of 60 days in wood.

In fact, this balsamic vinegar is aged for 16 years in barrels of different woods – oak, cherry, chestnut, juniper and ash. This is according to a centuries-old balsamic-making tradition, and plays a large part in giving the vinegar its complex layers of flavour.

Officinae Defrutum balsamic vinegars and condiments are made on a family-run farm in Modena, in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region. They are made only with Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes that are grown in the farm’s surrounding vineyards, so the entire production is closed cycle. Emilia-Romagna’s climate of extremes – very hot summers and freezing winters – provides the best conditions for fermenting and maturing balsamic vinegar. The production and ageing methods have been passed down through four generations of balsamic vinegar makers.

Ingredients: cooked grape must, wine vinegar. Contains sulphites