Extra old, extra harmonious, extra precious XA is the sign of the most precious distillates and balsamic vinegars from the house of Gölles. Twenty years after the premiere of the Apple Balsamic Vinegar, the Alois Gölles Schnapps Distillery & Vinegar Production is now presenting a limited series of extra-old balsamic vinegar and fine, extra-long-aged schnapps. These extraordinary products, aged for some 20 years in barrels or glass demijohns, will delight the most discriminating epicure, and have even achieved international renown as absolute rarities. The new line of Alois Gölles Private Reserve bears the XA seal of quality and is now available. XA Apple Balsamic Vinegar Apple Balsamic Vinegar is a vinegar type created at the beginning of the 1980s by Alois Gölles and immediately welcomed as a valuable ingredient by top chefs of leading restaurants as well as by discriminating gourmets. Like the high-quality “aceto balsamico”, Gölles Apple Balsamic Vinegar develops a fascinating aroma structure and an incomparable density of flavour as it ages. While the acidity level of the young vinegar decreases, in the course of the decades-long ageing process an exceptional degree of graceful opulence develops. This complex taste structure is given an additional spicy note by the barrels in which the vinegar is aged. The XA Apple Balsamic Vinegar from the Private Reserve of Alois Gölles, now available, was matured for some 20 years in batteries of seven barrels each. The use of various types of wood – for this first edition the vinegars were stored in barrels of ash, acacia, oak and cherry – is the traditional method employed to achieve an especially multi-layered flavour. The largest barrel of each battery has a volume of 30 litres, while the smallest holds six litres. In the ageing process the vinegar passes through all the barrels, and in the end is filled from the smallest barrel of the battery into bottles. From this first edition of XA Apple Balsamic Vinegar, a limited number of 945 attractively designed 0.1 litre-bottles is available. XA Fine Schnapps The Alois Gölles Distillery began many years ago reserving the most full-flavoured batches of various distillates for the schnapps of the XA line. Depending on the character of the spirits, the maturation process is carried out in glass demijohns or small wooden casks. In the course of the ageing process the schnapps becomes milder, smoother and more and more expressive on the palate. This all gives XA Fine Schnapps from Alois Gölles an exceptionally nuanced bouquet, a multi-layered complex of flavours, an unexpected fruit glaze and a long finish normally found only in the very great wines.