We can’t live without Vincotto!

Vincotto is a totally unique condiment, created by cooking the must of late harvest Negroamaro and Malvasia nera grapes over a low flame, for over 24 hours. And it doesn’t end there, it is then aged for four years with a mother must, in oak casks.

Considering such a laborious and carefully nurtured process, you would expect an exceptional product – and you would be correct to assume this. Our Calogiuri vincotto is made from a carefully guarded family recipe, developed in 1825, near Lecce, in Puglia, Italy. It is an incredibly unique product, as the two grape varieties used to create this vincotto are only grown in Lecce. This exquisite vincotto was only shared with the rest of the world in 1999, when Gianni Calogiuri decided it was time for everyone to be able to enjoy this special ingredient.

Vincotto Calogiuri, the original vincotto, is syrupy and boasts rich and deep flavours that are equally enhancing for both sweet and savoury dishes. Vincotto is very nutritious, it is rich in polyphenols and contains no alcohol, colouring or preservatives. We also love Calogiuri’s range of fruit-infused vincotto vinegar – fig and raspberry, each eliciting a unique flavour experience. To create the fruit-flavoured vincotto, fruits from the Calogiuri family orchard, as well as their own vincotto vinegar, are added to the original vincotto and left to infuse.

In our kitchen, we use vincotto as a dressing for salads, grilled vegetables and lentils, we also love to drizzle it over tomato or cheese bruschetta, pasta and soup. It is such a versatile ingredient, adding so much to sweet dishes too. Stirred through whipped cream, mascarpone or natural yogurt, drizzled over grilled stone fruit like nectarines or peaches, with panna cotta, ice cream, lemon tart or our Sabato blueberry & almond friand cake (pictured above). Vincotto is a great accompaniment to gourmet sausages, grilled beef and lamb, chicken, or duck. It is also particularly lovely paired with soft white cheese like ricotta or goats’ cheese. You can see why we can’t live without this versatile flavour bomb in our pantry.