BALSAMIC VINEGAR FROM MODENA

Traditional balsamic vinegar is a very dark, concentrated, health promoting condiment with roots in Northern Italy. The real thing is nothing short of ambrosia drizzled at the table on mild tasting dishes or desserts where its intensely sweet and complex flavor can really shine.

Unfortunately, this delectable condiment is yet another victim of the quicksand of industrialized processing. The food industry’s focus on shareholders and profits at the expense of quality and consumer health is the reason why. 

Nearly without exception, bottles of balsamic vinegar at the supermarket and even healthfood stores and gourmet shops contain cheap, hastily made concoctions that do not mirror careful ancestral practices.

This is concerning as many people today are attempting to follow a more Mediterranean style diet to improve health and wellness. Balsamic vinegar is an important condiment within this food philosophy. It appears that most people, even chefs, don’t realize that what they are using is not authentic and possibly harmful.

Known as industrial balsamics, these liquids contain few to no probiotics and beneficial enzymes. They also lack the concentrated nutrition of authentically made sweet, dark vinegar. Hence, any health benefits are lost when consumers use these modern day versions as a substitute.

TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION MEHTODS

Once farmers harvest the white grapes, they press them into grape must. This fresh juice is complete with juice, skin, seeds, and stems. Artisans cook the must down over a direct flame by about half to the perfect concentration of syrup.

At this point, a small amount of existing balsamic vinegar is added. This probiotic inoculant initiates the fermentation process, which takes about three weeks.

The young syrup then slowly matures and becomes further concentrated for a minimum of 12 years. The aging occurs in successively smaller, wooden barrels. Craftsman make the casks out of different types of wood such as oak, chestnut, cherry, juniper, and mulberry. This allows the vinegar to progressively take on the complex flavors of the casks.

The barrels sit in a room such as the one pictured below where workers carefully control the light, temperature and humidity.

25 and 50 year aged balsamic vinegars are also common. Some bottles are a century or more old. As you can imagine, they are astronomically expensive too.

The longer balsamic ferments, the better the flavor. Enhanced potency of the enzymes, nutrition and probiotics is also a possibility, although I could not find any solid research to support this.

WE SELL ONLY THE “ACETO BALSAMICO TRADIZIONALE” DI MODENA AGED A MINIMUM OF 12 YEARS