Balsamic Vinegar Condiment

And it turns out, traditional balsamic producers have always felt the same. San Giacomo producer Andrea Bezzecchi, who tends to the same wooden barrels his grandfather used, says that the practice of drawing off some of the balsamic in the middle of the aging process has always been a way of producing a delicious everyday staple condiment.

San Giacomo Balsamic condiment is made using only the same raw ingredients Andrea uses for traditional balsamic: Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes, harvested each year at the peak of ripeness to ensure the optimal sugar content. The grape must is fermented in large barrels, and aged in smaller barrels until it reaches the desired balance of flavors and aromas. After one or two years, it is fortified with balsamic vinegar matured in juniper, cherry or acacia wood barrels.

Andrea named his company after Via San Giacomo Maggiore in Cognento di Campagnola, a small town near Reggio Emilia in the region of Emilia-Romagna. That’s the street where Andrea’s parents Carla and Carlo produced lambrusco, balsamic vinegar, and other local products. In their region, it was customary to make a little bit of balsamic under your own roof, and they inherited the battery of barrels used to make traditional balsamic from their grandparents. The acetaia, or vinegar cellar, passed to Andrea, who moved the company across town but incorporated the company with the name of his original family home.