San Giacomo Vinegars

Acetaia San Giacomo, Novellara (Reggio Emilia), Italy

Balsamic without vinegar & vinegars without water.  Traditionally, wine was made into vinegar WITHOUT adding any water.  This is, in fact, the way San Giacomo makes their vinegar.

Andrea Bezzecchi the 3rd generation producer, is the President of the Balsamic Consortio in Reggio Emilia (aka the Balsamic police); so, you know his vinegars are authentic.  He's also a professional Parmigiano Reggiano cheese taster...and a lawyer.  He's a man of many talents.

San Giacomo makes pure RAW, unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic single varietal vinegar, with no water added.  This ancient method is called “static superficial oxidation”.  It’s a very slow process, in small batches, like it used to be.  Each craft vinegar has their own distinct flavor and unique aroma.  They are high acidity, around 8%, so, you will use less.

And he makes barrel AGED balsamic vinegars are rich and flavorful.  We stock the 3 year, 5 year, 8 year and 12 year traditionale balsamic – all made with 100% organic grape must.  We also carry his saba and an apple balsamic.  All with no water added.  We especially like Essenza, an 8 year balsamic which has gone from barrel to barrel to barrel, picking up rich and subtle flavors while naturally evaporating into a thick syrup.  It’s sublime – all you need is a little drizzle on garden tomatoes, steak or even ice cream to make your next food memory. 

Did you know that 99% of all balsamic vinegar produced is commodity and not even produced in Italy?  It’s just packed there because it sells better that way.  And it’s only aged for 60 days, contains water, vinegar (yes, vinegar), color, sugar, and likely starch?!  If you are lucky, it will contain some grape must.  Sadly, these are cheap imitations with poor quality ingredients, a cheap price, and no character.

Authentic.  Vinegar.  If you are in the area, we will gladly sample you so you can taste the difference.