The in-depth investigation into the grape varieties and the methods of refinement and ageing focuses both on the actual cultivation of the grapes as well as on perceptive production techniques most tied to the ancient, historical recipe of the House of Este.
The grape varieties selected for production of “Sopraffino degli Estensi” vinegar are cultivated on the best-suited enterprise farmlands so that health status and quantity can be appropriately monitored and possible vineyard cultivation vegetal-production imbalances are efficiently prevented. The selected vines originate from very old farm enterprise varieties, featuring high dissolved sugar-to-water mass ratios (i.e. between 20 and 22 degrees Brix) and delicate acidity (i.e. between 6 and 7 g/l expressed in terms of tartaric acid) which ensure intense biologic activities during the acetifying process. In view of the above, the vintage selection is considerably important for preserving the health of the grapes and for ensuring subsequent fermentation developments without any stress and/or olfactive defects. This is possible by selecting exclusively the autochthonous grapes that are grown on-site and that therefore feature a good polyphenolic structure and overall availability of nitrogenous sources.
These viticultural strategies are essential to the successful achievement of the subsequent transformation phases and for guaranteeing the development of the acetifying bacteria. The care of the fine, acetobacterium layers is in fact one of the most important techniques which give “Sopraffino degli Estensi” vinegar the edge on the common, industrial acetifying techniques.
The antique, handed-down art of feeding the vinegar mothers is performed by ensuring that there is an intense biologic activity of the distinctive farm species, in harmony with natural heat excursions. During the hot summer months, acetification is triggered naturally and is managed by regular top-offs with younger products which is actually the secret of the antique technique, steeped in the traditions of the House of Este, when at the onset of the seasons of the luxurious, summer banquets that at the time of the great culinary master Cristoforo di Messisburgo were famous throughout Europe, it was customary to keep the production of the precious condiment alive and thriving. This antique method of discontinuous acetification is carried on today without any forcing strategies or climatic conditioning up until the arrival of the first cold autumn weather, which marks the start of the slow, natural product-clearness and decantation processes.