Vinagre de Montilla-Moriles PDO

Tasting notes

Sweet, with a slight retronasal touch of herbs such as rosemary and thyme coming from the honey, and a slightly smoky, warm taste of noble wood, from the roasting of the almonds. On the nose, the rounded aroma is reminiscent of spice and herbs, such as ginger and cardamom. The viscosity and superficial oiliness of the mixture give a slightly breakable texture. The shape, size and direction of the particles are irregular throughout. When chewed, the mixture is smooth and velvety, reminiscent of peach skin. This is the result of the gumminess and adhesiveness of the mixture on the tongue and the palate. The residual sensation is one of fast breaking up of the mixture and absorption of its components.

Other notes

Aged vinegarsVisual phase: clean and bright colour, ranging from amber to intense mahogany, almost jet.Olfactory phase: soft acetic acid aromas with notes of oak wood, fragrance of esters, especially of ethyl acetate, and spicy, roasted and empyreumatic notes.Gustative phase: soft, balanced flavour, glyceric with high persistence in the mouth.Sweet Pedro Ximénez vinegarVisual phase: syrupy, clean and bright, with colour ranging from intense mahogany to jet, with light, violet highlights.Olfactory phase: intense aromas of raisined grapes, with a grape-stalk fragrance recalling ‘Pedro Ximénez’ sweet wine, which balance the acetic-acid, ethyl-acetate and oak-wood aromas.Gustative phase: well-balanced, bitter-sweet flavour, with high persistence in the mouth.Muscatel sweet vinegarVisual phase: syrupy, clean and bright, with mahogany colours of varying intensity.Olfactory phase: intense aromas of muscatel grapes, which balance the acetic-acid, ethyl-acetate and oak-wood aromas.Gustative phase: very well-balanced, bitter-sweet flavour, with high persistence in the mouth. Aromas of the variety that gives these vinegars their name are reinforced retronasally.

Production / Processing method

The following types of ‘Vinagre de Montilla-Moriles’ are produced:Aged vinegarsVinegar covered by the PDO that has undergone a specific ageing process for a specific period and available in the following categories:‘Añada’: subject to ‘static’ ageing (i.e. in the same cask) for three years or more.Vinegars aged using the dynamic ‘criaderas y solera’ system (a combination of young –‘criaderas’– vinegars and older –‘solera’– vinegars) fall into the following categories, depending on the ageing period:‘Crianza’: aged in the wood for at least six months,‘Reserva’: aged in the wood for at least two years,‘Gran Reserva’: aged in the wood for at least 10 years.Sweet vinegarsThe following types are produced, depending on the variety of must added, in all of the above categories:‘Vinagre al Pedro Ximénez’: to which must of raisined grapes of the Pedro Ximénez variety is added during the maturing process.‘Vinagre al Moscatel’: to which must of grapes or raisined grapes of the muscatel variety is added during the maturing process.The protected vinegars have the following analytical characteristics:- The residual alcohol content must not exceed 3 % by volume.- The total acetic acid content must be at least 60 g/-The soluble dry extract must be at least 1,30 g/l and percentage point of acetic acid.-The ash content must be between 2 and 7 g/l, except for sweet vinegars, which must have between 3 and 14 g/l of ash.-The acetoin content must be at least 100 mg/l- For Pedro Ximénez and muscatel sweet vinegars, the reducing sugar content must be at least 70 g/l.
The production of the wine and the must and the acetification and maturing of the vinegar are carried out in the defined geographical area.Acetification involves the transformation of the alcoholic content of the wine into acetic acid through the action of acetic acid bacteria. Two methods are used to produce ‘Vinagre de Montilla-Moriles’:In ‘Bodegas de Elaboración de Vinagre’ (vinegar-production cellars) using industrial production methods or submerged fermentation.In ‘Bodegas de envejecimiento y crianza de vinagre’ (vinegar-ageing and maturing cellars) using the traditional method or surface fermentation.The bottling of vinegars covered by the ‘Vinagre de Montilla-Moriles’ PDO must take place exclusively in cellars entered in the register held by the Regulatory Board or included in the corresponding list of packers of protected products or, failing this, in installations that have been authorised by the Regulatory Board. Vinegar may be placed into circulation and sold solely by registered producers in containers made of glass or other materials that do not affect its quality or reputation.The vinegar may be made available to the final consumer only in glass or ceramic packaging or packaging made of other inert materials for food use that do not modify the physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics of the product.Labels must bear the words ‘Vinagre de Montilla-Moriles’ and specify the type of vinegar concerned.All the packaging used to market the vinegar must have quality seals or numbered seals issued by the Regulatory Board or, where appropriate, numbered labels or secondary labels, provided that the mechanism concerned cannot be used again once broken.

Geography / Relief and climate

The geographical area includes the whole of the municipalities of Montilla, Moriles, Doña Mencía, Montalbán, Monturque, Puente Genil and Nueva Carteya; and part of the municipalities of Aguilar de la Frontera, Baena, Cabra, Castro del Río, Espejo, Fernán Núñez, La Rambla, Lucena, Montemayor, Córdoba and Santaella. The geographical area of the PDO is the same as the area for maturing ‘Montilla-Moriles’ PDO.

Regulatory Council

Avda. José Padillo Delgado, S/N
14550 Montilla
Córdoba
Tel: (+34) 957 652 110
gerencia@montillamoriles.es
www.montillamoriles.es

Sources:

- Spanish Ministry of Agriculture

- Regulatory Council DOP Montilla Moriles