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O C G S h o w D a i l y 2 5 Tu e s d a y, Ju n e 7 , 2 0 1 6 DOMESTIC BALSAMIC IN THE HEART OF NEW MEXICO By Micah Cheek "May third, we had a serious freeze. We lost about a quarter of the grapes," says Steve Darland of The Darland Company. "One year we had a family of bears." Darland's farm is located in Monticello, New Mexico, a former ghost town just north of Truth Or Consequences. This arid environment, though sometimes unforgiving, is an ideal place to age bal- samic vinegar. Darland personally inspects and prunes his grapevines throughout the growing season. Every grape counts; it will take 200 pounds of fruit and at least 12 years to make each bottle of Traditional Organic Balsamic of Monticello. Grapes that make it to harvest are crushed and heated over a wood fire. After being reduced and fermented, the grape must is poured off into handmade barrels. These casks are crafted by Francesco Renzi, whose family has been making them in the same building for 500 years, long before balsamic vinegar was considered a viable mass market product. The grape will spend 12 years circulating through casks made of oak, chestnut, cherry, juniper, acacia and ash, drawing volatile compounds from each to develop its snappy, resinous flavor. Darland says, "Periods of intense work are followed by long periods of time where grapes are growing or vinegar is aging in its casks." Monticello is a hub for organic farmers, despite the spring frosts and animals. They all meet in Truth Or Consequences for a farmer's market, which the Darlands helped start after their first grape harvest. The revenue for their first batch of balsamic was over a decade away, so other sources of income came from the farm. "A great way to fill the time is to grow unique, but potentially popular, healthy, deli- cious organic crops which thrive in this environment," says Darland. The farm produced shishito peppers, pomegran- ates, and other organic products. "My wife, Jane, became the Johnny Appleseed of Sierra County by helping other growers choose, then order and plant the right fruit trees to survive and thrive in our climate – thousands of trees," he adds. The more you learn about Darland's process, the farther removed it is from the balsamic vinegars readily available on shelves. These products, known as industrial vinegars, are generally aged for as little as hours or days before being thickened with sugar, molasses or mosto cotto, a sweet grape syrup. This thick and sweet vinegar is made to mimic the tradi- tional balsamic flavor, because demand for the product has long ago outstripped supply. This demand has fueled a mas- sive market for the sweetened balsamic. "It may be a polite fake, but with an esti- mated quarter billion dollars of annual US sales, it is a much, much better busi- ness than it is a gourmet food item," says Darland. For him, these products do not even fit into the category of real balsam- ic vinegar. "The key thing for people to learn: when you read the ingredient list on the label and it has more than one, it is industrial balsamic. Like it or not." The Darlands devote their down time to travel. They conduct tastings at stores and restaurants to highlight the differences between their balsamic and the less expensive industrial alterna- tives. "We take nearly every opportu- nity to visit islands of foodies, wherev- er we can sample and talk about the real thing, since ours is the only American commercial balsamic and probably the only organic version in the world," says Darland. Surprisingly, one of the most difficult groups to con- vince is chefs. "Chefs are challenged with being fashionable, and making a profit. In culinary school or other training, chefs are shown how to make faux balsamic," says Darland. Many chefs will cook down inexpensive industrial vinegars with sugar to make a facsimile of a rich, aged balsamic to use for plate presentation. They end up with a sweet product that clings to the tongue, but has had all the subtle fla- vors and volatile compounds cooked out of it. "It's a hoax on the menu. It makes everyone the fool – the wait help, the kitchen staff, the chef and the diner all get the wrong lesson without ever tasting balsamic." says Darland. "There's a cruel humor in it." While cost-conscious chefs are reti- cent to pick up a bottle of Monticello vinegar, Darland has had to turn away many retailers trying purchase his prod- uct. Producing a maximum of 1000 bot- tles per year makes relationships with retailers a delicate balancing act. Each new retailer thins out the number of bot- tles that go to all the rest. "We sell online and through very special retailers, and have to be judicious with supply. We sold everything we bottled last year, and we were down to just two bottles when the year ended," says Darland. "So, we want retail allies with smart retail staff who we can rely on for sales. In turn they can rely on us for supply." In addition to the 1000 4.5-ounce bottles, limited batches of one ounce bottles are released, as well as a condiment balsamic version made from the same grape must, but aged for less than 12 years. When asked how he is planning on expanding, Darland states, "I'm not." While some nationwide retailers have tried to bring Traditional Organic Balsamic of Monticello to their shelves, Darland doesn't have enough stock, and more importantly, doesn't like the way they do business. "If we had done that, we would have done it 23 years ago," says Darland. "The retailers we have are really smart and really know what they've got." Though making organic and artisan products is more involved, Darland steadfastly believes that small production of quality ingredients has a growing place in the market. "These days, everything is monetized. But with true balsamic, there is no short term fis- cal shortcut. Rather than repeating the classics, people have settled for fakes. Still, there is room for real, and things made with great care," says Darland. "Handcrafted, organic, small production is a lively segment for balsamic and many gourmet products." GET LUCKY WITH LUCKY COUNTRY USA How lucky can a candy lover and retailer get? Just ask Lucky Country. First, it tempted customers with its back-to-back Buyer Choice Award-win- ning Aussie Style soft eating licorice candy. Now, it has some great new can- dies in its lineup: All New Twisted Minis: soft candy sticks in five fun flavors designed with high impact packaging and in flavors sure to excite. These candies have no high fructose corn syrup and are made with real fruit juice. This is not licorice, and kids will love this fun and playful "mini-twisted" treat. Available now in five great flavors. All New DulceLocos: three bold flavors with a Latino flair in flavors of Horchata, Dulce de Leche and Lemon Lime. This line is a perfect combination of fun and bold and is delivered in a flavorful "soft candy chew" designed in bi-lingual packaging. Lucky Country is also introducing all new organic and non-GMO product ranges as well. These products are sure to deliver on uncompromising quality and taste in cleaner formulations for those consumers looking for a bet- ter for you candy solution. These are all tastes your customers have never experi- enced, and will have them thanking their lucky stars you're around to stock up on it. All Lucky Country USA products are proudly made in America at its facil- ities in Lincolnton, North Carolina. For more information, email customer service@lucky-country.com. AUTHENTIC GREEK FRESHNESS IN AN EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL By Lorrie Baumann You won't see a lot of clutter on the label of a bottle of Kiklos Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Instead of a lot of extra text, the bottle's white label is simple and clean, suggesting the purity and elegance of the product inside. That's intentional, says Jonathan Bassett, Co-founder of The Olive Fruit, which makes the Kiklos product. "A lot of olive oils, and particu- larly specialty olive oils, say a lot on the label, and then when you purchase them and taste them, you're asking, 'What did I just buy?'" he says. "We wanted to show in the brand image that we're taste perfectionists." The Kiklos brand was started by Bassett after he grew frustrated in his search for the authentic tastes he remem- bered from when he traveled to Greece on family visits when he was young. "I fell in love with the country and the food," he says now. One of the flavors he missed most was the characteristic taste of Greek olive oil. "It's such a staple taste that influences the taste of the food that's made with it." He finally decided that the best way to get that flavor in the United States was to start a company with a Greek col- league and import high-quality extra vir- gin olive oil from the Peloponnese region made from just one variety of olives—the Koroneiki. The Koroneiki olive, known as the "queen of olives" for its fine taste, also produces oil with high antioxidant levels, which are responsible for the health benefits for which extra virgin olive oil is lauded. "It's a Greek taste," Bassett says. He launched the Kiklos brand in American stores in June, 2014. Kiklos Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil from olives harvested this fall will be arriving in stores this winter. Olives for oil production are harvest- ed in Greece during the months of October, November and December. The olives whose oil will be bottled for Kiklos are harvested just before they reach the peak of ripeness to maximize their antioxidant content. Kiklos olives are picked without using big machinery to shake the olives out of the trees, as is done in many olive groves. That hurts the trees and hurts the olives, and the effects ultimately show up in the oil's flavor, so the Kiklos olives are harvested gently, then transported quickly to the mill and cold-pressed within a day or so at a tem- perature below 27 degrees C. "Since we're a small company, it's easy for us to do that because we have full control over our process," Bassett says. "But even as we grow, we'll continue to process the same way and always in small batches." The result is a yellow-green oil with a characteristic grassy flavor and a pep- pery finish that Bassett calls the "Kiklos kick." "With the kick, you feel a warm sensation at the back of your throat, which signifies that you're getting the antioxidants and a natural anti-inflamma- tory," he says. "It's not blended. It's not deodorized. It's not infused. What we're offering is olive juice – it's just pressed olives without any other chemicals." "In Greece, when you order a salad, there's no dressing; there's just olive oil, vinegar, pepper and salt. That's it," he adds. "It's the perfect dressing, not only for your salad, but also if you want to cook chicken or fish or grilled vegetables – it just makes it that much better." Kiklos Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil retails for around $29 for a 500 ml bottle. For more information, visit www .theolivefruit.com.