Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI – Platinum

Malpighi Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP Platinum. 90% grape must, density 1.36, with dosing pourer.

Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP Platinum is the densest IGP grade from Acetaia Malpighi, made from 90% reduced grape must and 10% wine vinegar, aged for a long time in rovere barriques. It comes in a box with a dosing pourer. No Tradizionale DOP, no starch-thickened cream, no vinegar for the salad bowl.

Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP Platinum is a balsamic vinegar from Acetaia Malpighi in Modena and sits in the range between the Gold grade and Tradizionale DOP. This classification helps to understand it. The Silver contains 70% must and has a density of 1.28. The Tradizionale is made from pure must and aged for at least twelve years. With 90% must and a density of 1.36, the Platinum is closest to the Tradizionale in texture. It remains in the 250-ml bottle. Those seeking the density of a DOP without buying the small bottle will find it here. And those who already know the Silver will recognize the same character in the Platinum, but with more body.

Velvety on the palate, with acidity in the background

The Platinum coats the palate with a velvety texture and tastes of prunes, dark honey and wood. The acidity arrives late and subtly. Its colour is a deep brown, almost opaque in the glass. It draws a slow thread from the spoon that remains on the plate.

On the nose, it is round and full, without the sharp vinegar note many people expect from balsamic vinegar. Those who open the bottle smell fruit first, then wood, and only finally acidity. On the plate, it changes with the warmth of the dish and becomes noticeably more aromatic over lukewarm vegetables than it is from the cold bottle.

The sweetness comes entirely from the reduced must and therefore does not taste sticky, but round. Notes of fig and toasted bread appear on the finish, while the wood from the barriques adds a hint of vanilla. A single drop lingers on a bite of Parmigiano for several seconds. Then a trace of wood remains, inviting the next bite.

Those seeking a fresh balsamic vinegar for a green salad will find the Platinum too dense and too sweet, as its acidity is not enough for a vinaigrette. It is also unsuitable as a marinade for meat because the must sweetness quickly turns bitter when fried. It is a vinegar for the final touch, not the first.

Drop by drop on the finished dish

The Platinum is added cold and drop by drop to the plate once the dish is ready. For tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella, use five to six drops per portion, no more, otherwise it will overpower the milk. After the meat has rested for five minutes, draw a thin thread across slices of tagliata beef.

A risotto with Parmigiano gets three drops on the plate just before serving. A ratatouille of aubergine, courgette and pepper can take half a teaspoon, stirred into the lukewarm pan. For pieces of 36-month-aged Parmigiano, one drop per piece is enough. This is the classic way to experience a dense balsamic vinegar.

Like salsa verde, it is a natural accompaniment to bollito misto, the mixed boiled meat from Emilia. Half a teaspoon next to the meat on the plate is enough for four slices. Grilled aubergines and courgettes receive a few drops on the cut surface after grilling, while they are still warm.

It can also be sweet. A teaspoon of Platinum suits 250 g of halved strawberries, left to infuse for ten minutes. Over a scoop of vanilla ice cream from the parlour, the vinegar becomes a sauce that no one would recognise as vinegar. One step further is the twelve-year-aged Tradizionale DOP, which is even denser and even subtler in its acidity.

From experience: Hold the bottle with the pourer vertically over the plate and count the drops instead of tipping it. The Platinum is not suitable for deglazing a pan or reducing, as that is the role of the medium-density balsamic vinegar from the same range.

Rovere barriques and 3,000 barrels under one roof

The Platinum is aged in barriques made of rovere, the Italian grape oak, whose tight-grained wood allows the must to breathe more slowly than American oak. Acetaia Malpighi has been in Modena since 1850, and Massimo Malpighi is now in its fifth generation. The grapes, Trebbiano and Lambrusco, grow on the family’s own Tenuta del Cigno estate outside the city.

After pressing, the must is reduced until much of the water has evaporated. What remains is a dark, thick mosto cotto, in which the sugar and fruit acids are concentrated. It is precisely this concentration that creates the density of 1.36, without the need for starch, sugar or caramel colouring.

At Malpighi, the must and wine vinegar are aged separately in wood before being brought together. The barrel imparts tannins and vanillin and allows water to escape through the wood over the years. Every year in the barrel makes the vinegar denser, darker and milder in its acidity.

Under the roof of the Acetaia, around 3,000 barrels are stored, some dating from the 17th century and one from the Napoleonic era. At Malpighi, every child in the family receives their own set of barrels with their name branded into them at birth. If you calculate it this way, you measure the maturity of a vinegar in generations, not in months.

The gift bottle of the IGP range

The Platinum is the only IGP grade at Malpighi that comes in its own box with a dosing pourer. The pourer is no mere ornament, but the answer to the most common problem with dense balsamic vinegar: the initial gush that pours half a tablespoonful at once from a normal bottle.

As a gift for a dinner party, the bottle speaks for itself, and those who open it can dose it immediately. For home cooks who find a Tradizionale too precious for everyday use, the Platinum is the practical intermediate step. The rest of the range, from the Silver to the Extra Vecchio, can be found under Acetaia Malpighi.

Stored cool, in the dark and upright, it changes little over the years, and the pourer seals tightly enough to prevent anything from drying out. Once you place the Platinum next to the Silver and taste both from a spoon, you will understand the range in two minutes. Between them lie 20% must, a few years in wood and a noticeable difference on the palate.

A balsamic vinegar for the moment when the dish is ready and only three drops are missing.