What Is Vincotto - T-Tees - Your Answers Await, Life's Questions Unraveled

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Vincotto is a traditional Italian sweet, slightly caramelized syrup which has dark amber color and thick consistency.

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It is made from filtered and cooked grape must, which is essentially the same product used as the first step in wine making

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This is the reason it’s called Vincotto, which is basically the union of the words vin, short for vino (wine) and cotto, meaning cooked.

This name, however, is somewhat incorrect.Because it is not the wine that is cooked, but the grape must (grape juice).

In some regions of Italy it’s called Mosto Cotto – Cooked Must (which is technically more correct.

How To Make Vincotto – Step By Step

Wash grapes under cold running water.

Remove grapes from the stems, selecting and discarding any rotten or bad ones.

Pass all the grapes through the juicer.

Filter grape juice through a strainer.

Pour filtered juice in a pot large enough to fit all the juice.

Bring to a boil on medium heat.

Skim off any foam/froth that comes to the surface.

Put the heat on very low and simmer for 1 hour.

Past 1 hour add orange zest peeled with a potato peeler.

IMPORTANT: avoid peeling the white pith which gives bitterness when cooked.

Simmer for another 60 minutes, then remove orange zest.

Cook for another 30 minutes.

Vincotto should start to make bubbles after about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

This is the time when you should start testing its thickness (consistency).

Always cook the juice immediately after passing it through the juice. If you can’t make vincotto right away, bring the juice to a boil to prevent microbial growth. Let cool and store in the fridge for max 2 days.
Vincotto can be cooked over several days. This comes especially handy when you work with a bigger batch. For example working with 10 liters of grape juice you can cook over the course of 3 days. Cook for 3-4 hours the first day, let cool. Continue cooking for another 3 hours the second day and finish cooking on the 3rd day until desired consistency.
Don’t rely only on the timer, test consistency of vincotto for doneness. Various types of grapes require slightly different cooking time.
Pay attention to not over cook it! Vincotto when still hot is more liquid. When it cools it will get denser. So it’s better to turn the heat of BEFORE you think it’s perfectly thick. If you overcook it will turn into jam kind jelly, still delicious but not Vincotto anymore.
If you’ve noticed that vincotto is still too liquid after it has cooled you can always bring it to a gentle simmer on a very low heat and finish cooking.You can do this the next day or even later.
Make sure your vincotto is at least ⅓ of initial juice amount. This is to be sure it has enough sugar to keep it from spoiling.