Balsamic vinegar is made in traditional and industrial styles. Modena, Italy, is home to traditional production, in which the Trebbiano grape juice is boiled, filtered, fermented and aged in barrels for a minimum of 12 years.
The finest balsamic vinegars are mellow, complex and slightly sweet, with rich brown colour, suitable for serving as an after-dinner drink or drizzled over fruit or cheese. Inexpensive industrial-style balsamics are commonly available and suitable for everyday cooking.
White Balsamic vinegar has a similar sweet, subtle flavour without the classic brown colour.
Sherry vinegar is made from sherry and the best, from Jerez, Spain, are aged using the solera system of topping off barrels of older wines with more recently made sherry. These vinegars are often identified by the oldest wine in the mix (four, 12, 25 or 50 years) and have a particularly well-rounded, smooth, rich and nutty flavour similar to sherry. They are wonderful drizzled over grilled vegetables or salads, or used to finish a sauce. Cheaper ones can be used as you would other wine vinegars.
Sweet wine vinegar is an emerging trend made from dessert wines (such as ice wine and Sauterne) and sweet fortified wines (such as Banyuls and Dulcino sherry).
The vinegars' sweet, complex flavours makes them perfect for duck, foie gras
and desserts.
Specialty wine vinegars are varied and include Verjus (made from the tart fresh juice of unripe wine grapes), which is perfect when lemon juice or vinegar would be too tart. Vincotto is another specialty that's made from the must of dried grapes that is boiled down and aged for four years. With its overtures of spices and plums, it is delicious drizzled over meats, vegetables and desserts.
Wine vinegar: A secret energy source for Roman soldiers!
Roman legionnaires quaffed a wine vinegar-based drink to keep them on the march. Switch the grape and wine base to our Canadian climate and you get switchel, a cider vinegar, a sweetener and a water-based drink that refreshed many a harvester on Canadian pioneer farms.
