White Balsamic Vinegar from Agustí Torelló Mata

White Balsamic-Style Vinegar from Catalonia, Spain

Agustí Torelló Mata Cava Vinegars are estate-made from their own distinctive cavas—and great wine makes great vinegar. The White Balsamic Vinegar is a stunning white-balsamic-style agrodolce with notes of honey and melon, with a whiff of almonds. It is made from Macabeu grapes only, and the fruit-forward character comes from the addition of Macabeu grape must. It is barrel-aged for more than 18 months, yielding a smooth, elegant acidic foil. It offers a bit more residual fruit than champagne vinegar, and is an exceptional tool in the pantry.

Use Agustí Torelló Mata White Balsamic Vinegar to sprinkle over Oyster Po' Boys or atop scallop carpaccio. Blend the white balsamic with J. Leblanc Hazelnut Oil into a vinaigrette for Dungeness crab salad or an arugula, pear and blue cheese salad. Make a sweet pickled onion confit to serve next to grilled lamb, try roasting a pork loin and use the vinegar to deglaze the pan, or simply bliss out, and serve it on vanilla ice cream (mind blown!). Agustí Torelló Mata also makes an elegant Dry Cava Vinegar that is a must-add to your pantry. 

About Producer

Agustí Torelló Mata did a winemaking stage in the Champagne region of France as a youth, returned home to his village of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (the “capital” of cava, in the heart of the Penedès region of Catalonia, Spain), and eventually created his own cava—the DO Spanish sparkling wine produced using the méthode champenoise.

His estate winery is famous worldwide for handcrafting superlative, regionally expressive cavas—using only indigenous grapes from local vines—that reflect the unique terroir of Penedès. The winery produces mostly Reserva and Gran Reserva cavas, as the long aging creates a complex bouquet not found in younger wines (one of Agustí Torelló Mata’s cavas was the house cava at El Bulli. At the close of the restaurant, the staff took a cruise on a trimaran, stood on deck and drank cases of it, toasting goodbye).