Il Classico 8 Year Old Balsamic

 Description

Volume: 250ml

A rich bouquet and a perfect balance between sweet and sour make this a very versatile balsamic vinegar, made from the best musts and aged for eight years in the barrels of Giusti’s famous cask deposit. With its wonderful perfume, it is a high class choice for salads, omelettes, meat and fish fillets and veal escalopes. Mentioned in the book ‘101 things to buy before you die’ alongside Champagne Krug and Iranian and Belluga Caviar, this vinegar is a twice Gold Medal winner.

Our Producer

Gran Deposito Balsamic Vinegar by Giuseppe Giusti

We hope that you enjoy our selection of Balsamic Vinegars. We wanted to bring you the best quality prize winning vinegar at great prices and to be able to assure you that you won’t find any mention of extracts, sugars, preservatives or colourings on our labels.

There are many brands and types of so-called balsamic vinegar, most are cheap and artificially coloured and thickened. The real, mouth-wateringly good ones are a little more expensive, thanks to the superior production method and lengthy ageing process undertaken, and are a world apart from their imposters.

Our producer is Giuseppe Giusti in Modena. Seventeen generations of his family have been producing high quality balsamic vinegar since 1605 and have won numerous prizes (including 14 Gold Medals) over the centuries. They were the authors of the first documented recipe for the production of Balsamic Vinegar and are the custodians of the most extraordinary existing cask reserve, composed of invaluable century old barrels.

Giuseppe Giusti and his family select good quality Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes and slowly reduce the grape juice in copper kettles until it is thick, dark and sweet. No caramel is added to sweeten and colour it - this is the industrial way to mimic age. Giusti do not reduce by speedy pressurisation either, as do many industrial producers of balsamic.

Giusti add only good quality wine vinegar to the cooked grape must, and then age it in traditional barrels of various woods - juniper, cherry, oak, ash, and mulberry. Each wood infuses the balsamic with its own unique flavour and aroma. The family have over 1000 barrels in use - 600 of which are over 200 years old. Many industrial producers have only a few barrels and large, stainless steel silos.