Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - incredible balsamic vinegar tasting set at great value

Did you just think of balsamic vinegar as a garden variety additive in commercial Italian salad dressings? If so, I'm guessing that you might not know that authentic balsamic vinegar could actually even be paired with desserts such as gelato ice cream. 
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table
In fact, there is a whole range of premium balsamic vinegars for connoisseurs that are aged to different degrees and appreciated just like wine. In fact, both wine and balsamic vinegar are both made from the same ingredient of grapes, but using very different production processes. Balsamic vinegars are made by reducing white cooked grape juice ("must") into syrup, and only then is it fermented, oxidised and aged in wooden barrels for years, so they to contain no alcohol. The dark colour comes not from red grape skin because they use white grapes, but from the caramelisation of the sugars in the reduction process. In contrast, wine is just made from fermented grape juice. Furthermore, for traditional balsamic vinegar that are certified Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP), they have to be aged for at least 12 years and contain no wine vinegar, hence only must. Wine vinegar is usually added to commercial or other versions.

I had a chance to try some non-DOP balsamic vinegar at an Italian eatery that opened in Singapore recently called The Artisan's Table at The Rail Mall. They specialise in bringing in gourmet food supplies from Europe, not only Italy, but their menu is mainly Italian, and they bring in a range of balsamic vinegars, including DOP, from what I can tell. But I assume that what I tried are non-DOP because the oldest one is only 12 years of age. While I do not know if wine vinegar was added to any of them, they were all quite complex and some of them barely even sour, so it's possible that those non-sour ones did not have any wine vinegar added.

The featured menu item that I tried is a special balsamic vinegar tasting set called "Balsamic Experience". And some unique aspects of this platter are how they provide a range of balsamic vinegars from 4 years to 12 years, even feature a white version, dare to pair them with Italian gelato ice cream and also include a write up on how you might want to experiment with them. This is a closeup of the different vinegars in the photo below.
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - close up of the 4 balsamic vinegar samples
And these are their instructions in the photo below (click for full size). They recommend to try each vinegar with the focaccia first. But I tried each one plain (just a sip of a few drops) first to get a sense of the individual flavours, before pairing them with the different items. I also ended up having different opinions on which paired well with each food item, which I will share later.
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - restaurant's write-up
Straight sampling of each balsamic vinegar, without pairings

First, I will share the individual tasting experience. The overall trend moving from youngest to most aged (right to left) was that they became deeper, darker, more complex and more wine-like the older they were. The sourness level and acidity also generally increased as the age increased, although it was uneven, and I'm not sure about the wine vinegar content because I didn't think to ask. I also thought that the sweetness level seemed to decrease very slightly as the balsamic vinegar aged, but I am not sure if the sweetness of the older versions were just masked by other complex elements in the mix.

I started with the white one which was the 4-year vinegar. This white balsamic vinegar actually tasted a lot like a very fruity, bright and clean white moscato, except that it wasn't dry at all, had no alcohol and felt a lot sweeter. So perhaps it might be closer to a pear cider in some aspects. The fruity notes reminded me of white grape, then pear. The sourness level was very low, almost at the level of typical fruit juices but slightly higher, so it was very easy to drink even on its own, a bit like a complex white fruit syrup. Apparently, its unique profile is due to being cooked at lower temperatures, which prevents caramelisation, and not being aged in wooden barrels, which means it doesn't get any woody or earthy notes from that part of the process. I actually liked this a lot.

The 5-year balsamic vinegar was, strangely, the most sour. But it was still sweet, and in contrast to the white one, had clear caramel notes mixed with the wine. So it was darker, but not quite like wine yet. I would say that it reminded me of a relatively sour and slightly vinegary prune juice overall, probably because it would be a darker version of grape juice.

The 8-year was probably one of my favourites, along with the white one, because this tasted like a very complex and winey thick prune-like grape juice. It was the 2nd least sour one in my experience, after the white one. 

The final 12-year one was actually my least favourite. It felt the most acidic in an unpleasant way, where it was not only sour (albeit slightly less sour than the 5-year one), but also acidic in a way that bites and pricks the palate and throat. It was also the darkest and most complex and wine-like of the lot. On top of that, it was super thick and viscous, although you can't quite see it from the photo I tried to take here below. It was slightly thicker than the consistency of evaporated milk, in my estimation. It really felt like a super thick, acidic and sweet prune juice, with the water evaporated somewhat, and it was very difficult to drink (which I did try to according to their recommendation in the write-up). I honestly have no idea why they recommend drinking this on its own, as it really made my throat hurt. 
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - 12-year aged balsamic vinegar
So overall, I think only the 8-year and 4-year ones are friendly enough to drink on their own.

Exploring recommended pairings

So first, I tried the pairings they recommended, which were all decent. 

The white 4-year vinegar on the salad was interesting as it was like a fruit juice-based dressing or even a light honey or syrup type of dressing. 

The 5-year with burrata cheese felt quite conventional and normal (photo below), because in typical Italian restaurant fare, burrata cheese is generally paired with typical balsamic vinegar that is sour (think of the common burrata caprese salad - burrata cheese with fresh tomatoes and basil leaves in balsamic vinegar dressing), and the 5-year balsamic vinegar fits that conventional profile well.
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - 5-year aged balsamic vinegar with burrata cheese
Then I tried the 8-year with the vanilla bean gelato ice cream (photo below). I also thought it went very well. It was like topping an ice cream with a prune jam-like sauce, with the slight tangyness and the lush, dark and complex winey top and base notes bringing a lot more excitement and colour to the mellow and rich vanilla body.
Balsamic Experience by The Artisan's Table - 8-year aged balsamic vinegar with vanilla bean gelato ice cream
As mentioned, I tried the 12-year one on its own like a shot, and it turned out to be a disaster that I completely wouldn't recommend.

Shuffling the pairings around

If I were to suggest different recommendations, I would also try the 4-year white balsamic vinegar with the burrata, as it would be like the popular burrata and honey combination, except lighter, more refreshing and with some fruity tang. I tried this, and it seemed to work.

The 8-year and the 5-year would also go well with the salad. The 5-year pairing well with the tomatoes like in burrata caprese salad, while the 8-year would be like a more complex and darker version of the 4-year, so it's a bit like having a salad with a berry or prune compote-based dressing. I also tried this, and it seemed to work.

Finally, I would absolutely not recommend trying the 12-year balsamic vinegar on its own. I think pairing it with the burrata cheese or ice cream would be most sensible to tone down the acid while allowing its thickness and complexity to shine over the relatively bland burrata cheese or the creamy, mellow and fragrant vanilla gelato. I didn't try this, however, because I was unfortunately saving it for the recommended straight shot, so I'm not sure how well it would work.

Highly recommended

Overall, at just S$20+ or so (including taxes and service charge), this tourist-like experience was a steal. I might try it again just to explore different pairings, especially with that last 12-year aged balsamic vinegar.

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