ACETAIA LEONARDI WHITE BALSAMIC CONDIMENT

Bright and balanced with sweet notes of pear, apple, and citrus fruit, this is balsamic in an entirely different register. Made from sweet Trebbiano grape must reduced to a delicate amber, then sealed into oak barrels for four years to acidify slowly without oxidising, it has a soft acidity and a clean, floral finish. Where dark balsamic is rich and brooding, this one is light and alive — equally at home over a delicate piece of fish as it is whisked into a vinaigrette.

The Leonardi family have been making balsamic vinegar on the same 10 hectares outside Modena since 1871 — four generations, one farm, one craft. Giovanni tends the vines and oversees production; his son Francesco carries the work forward. Their grapes — local clones of Lambrusco and Trebbiano — are hand-harvested each autumn and cooked for 72 hours in open copper cauldrons until the must reduces by nearly 70%. From there it moves into barrel, cycling through sets of chestnut, oak, cherry, and juniper casks stored in the attic of the farmhouse, where the swing between summer heat and winter cold slowly works its magic.

Whisk into a simple vinaigrette and spoon over torn Huddle sourdough with burrata and stone fruit, or drizzle straight onto a warm slice at the table — bright, clean, and quietly extraordinary.

To learn more about Acetaia Leonardi, visit www.acetaialeonardi.it

Imported from Italy. 250ml / 8.45 fl oz