Vincotto

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Vincotto (literally "cooked wine") is a dark, sweet dense grape must produced artisanally in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy. It is made by the slow cooking and reduction over many hours of grape must that can be made from a variety of types of local red wine grapes.

Vincotto has a sweet flavor, and is not a form of vinegar, though a sweet vinegar version can be produced using a vincotto as a base. This additional product is be called a Vinegar of Vincotto(, or Vincotto Vinegar,)and can be used in exactly the same way as a good mellow Balsamic vinegar.

Vincotto was produced as far back as ancient Roman times. The Romans used to boil down the grape must as a way of preserving and transporting it. It was very stable. It was used as a food ingredient to complement meats and other dishes, and in cakes as a sweetener. Sometimes it was mixed with honey. This is long before cane sugar was available. It was also consumed as a drink when diluted with water, or fermented into a heady Roman "wine." They called it defructum passum or caroleum, depending on its manner of production and degree of reduction.

Whatever on, over many centuries, the vincotto produced in the Salento area of Apulia (the "heel" of Italy), was further developed into several different varieties of higher quality and culinary sophistication.

The Calogiuri "Originale" Vincotto version from Lizzanello is produced using Negroamaro and Black Malvasia, and is cooked for some fifteen hours. The liquid is then put into oak barrels with the vinegar "mother" (starter) and aged for four years to allow it to develop a particular flavor profile and syrupy consistency. The process has overtones of a type of production method that was once used for balsamic vinegars. The term "Originale" refers to an original Calogiuri family recipe that originally dates back to 1825.

The Vincotto 'PrimitivO' is instead produced by the very slow reduction of the local very full bodied sweet Primitivo grapes togther with a sweet two-year aged Primitivo Dolcetto Naturale wine, from the vinyards and wine production of Terra del Sud in Melissano. The result is further rested for a number of months before it is ready to be consumed.

Vincotto can be used as a sweet condiment, as well as being sparingly drizzled over strongly flavored foods such as game, roast meats and poultry, aged cheeses, and risotto.

Due to the nature of the Apulian red grapes wines are produced with very high polyphenol counts. These work as antioxidants and are good for health, and act as strong natural flavour enhancers when added to other ingredients in a culinary recipe.

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[edit] Agrodolce 'balsamic' vinegars based on vincotto

Like a dense sweet balsamic "vinegar," the balsamic bincotto Agrodolce version can also used to dress salads and season cooked vegetables, and can even be used in desserts such as fruits or ice cream.

These are produced by blending a sweet matured vincotto with vinegar produced from the same red grape varieties. The result is allowed to rest for a further number of moths until it becomes "legato," which means "mellow." The result is an Apulian balsamic vinegar that can be used in exactly the same way as a very good quality balsamic vinegar of Modena, though it does have some additional properties. Red Apulian grapes and wines exhibit very high polyphenol counts, and these act as healthy antioxidants, as a very marked natural flavour enhancer when associated with other foods. They have the ability to push out other flavours when used in a recipe, instead of overpowering them, and as is usually the experience with other balsamic vinegars, they can still be further reduced over heat without any bitter caramelization.

These are available both from the Vincotto Calogiuri and the Vincotto PrimitivO Salentine producers.

[edit] Aromatized versions

Calogiuri vincotti are also presented in a variety of aromatized or flavoured versions, much in the same way that can be found with aromatized extra virgin olive oils. Locally grown fruits are used, including fig, carob, lemon, orange, raspberry, or chili pepper. This is an adaptation of traditional Apulian vincotto, but should not be confused with the understanding of a generic Apulian vincotti.

The same applies to the Vincotto PrimitivO mild chili pepper sauce.

The word "vincotto" is a generic name that cannot be registered as a trademark by any producer.

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