Antonio Food Tours: Giuseppe Cattani's Balsamic Vinegar

Most of the balsamic vinegar that you get from supermarkets are a poor imitation of real balsamic vinegar. You would be lucky if it does not contain caramel. Real balsamic vinegar is grape juice (sometimes, apple juice) aged in different types of wood barrels consecutively over decades. Every year, the vinegar is transferred into a new type of wood barrel. Over the years, the vinegar picks up the flavours from the wood - oak, juniper, mulberry, chestnut, ash and acacia. Traditionally, in this region, you start a new barrel of ferment when a daughter is born. When she gets married, she brings her barrels along with her to help her continue making balsamic vinegar as the mother of her own family.

Every time you transfer the vinegar into the next type of wood barrel, you must leave 10% of the ferment in the original. These contain probiotics that will ferment the new grape juice you put in there. Real balsamic vinegar has heath promoting properties and was often given to old people as a health tonic.

Basically, your parents start fermenting grape juice on your behalf so that when you get old, you can eat your own fermented grape juice as a health tonic.

Giuseppe Cattani's mother made balsamic vinegar in her attic, just under the roof where temperatures in summer can reach 45 Deg C. Giuseppe Cattani turned his mother's skills into an enterprise. He has warehouses full of balsamic vinegar barrels, all made the traditional way.

I have never liked balsamic vinegar and I now realise that is because I have never tasted the real thing. I bought 500ml of this ambrosia and I shall panic when it is all gone because after this, I will never be able to eat supermarket balsamic vinegar ever again.

This place must be worth millions because real balsamic vinegar is not cheap.

Real balsamic vinegar is thick and syrupy. Once you have tasted it, you will be addicted.

500ml of balsamic yumminess. This is aged 25 years.

Here is a selection of vinegars aged over different numbers of years.

Those barrels on the left shelf are home kitchen fermenting barrels. You can buy a set of 4 and because the barrels are small, the fermenting goes faster. The kit comes with a barrel of ferment which you can then transfer after 2 months, and then you top up the first barrel with more ferment from Giuseppe's warehouse. You can then harvest your own home made balsamic vinegar. The Husband asked me if I could ... and I said, No. I am already growing so many things at home!