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The production cycle of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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The production cycle of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
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Balsamic
Vinegar or, more properly, Balsamic Vinegars (since there are
three of them, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
of Modena and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia) are the
highest expression of the acidic fermentation, the one that - in the
past considered as a bad alteration of a wine - transform and alcoholic
liquid into a acetic one, strongly characterized with a precise aroma
and flavour. Known, and used, since the ancient times, it seems that
balsamic vinegar directly descends from the usage that ancient Romans
made of the concentrated must: Apicio, the writer, in his De Re Coquinaria,
described different kinds of cooked must, depending on their different
features and ways of preparation, but all of them found a large employ
in the cuisine. The most well known type certainly was "sapum" (today
in some areas still known as "Saba"), a cooked and concentrated must
of grapes that was given to the legionaries as a personal provision,
in small leather bags, to be used as a way to make better the water
they were compelled to drink during military campaigns. Sapum was
in fact the must that - in the areas around the Po river - showed
the strange attitude to ferment, when left to the open air, generating
not a wine but an acetic liquid, with a defined sour-sweet taste,
which was immediately accepted and adopted by the local populations,
which used it in their cuisine. A very little is known about the story
of this condiment in the long period which followed the Roman age:
what we know, is that the art to make balsamic vinegar (at the time
although certainly not with this name) make its root deep in the "mathildic
territories", the land today corresponding to the Italian provinces
of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Mantova, which had their name after Matilde
of Canossa. And documents tell us that this product was well accepted
and considered very precious: Donizone testifies that in 1046 Bonifacio
, father of Matilde di Canossa, upon a specific request of the Emperor
Henry III, sent a barrel of balsamic vinegar ("that vinegar, that
you make very special") to him in Piacenza. And he did not sent it
in a simply way: the product was delivered on a carriage pulled by
oxes, contained in a barrel made of solid silver. It is also said
that Albert, Viscount Duke of Mantova, second to Bonifacio in the
rank of power at the time, tried to counterbalance the importance
of the gift of his superior, by sending "hundreds of horses with their
linings" to the same Emperor. 
Made,
today as in the past, in Modena and Reggio, it is prepared using the
same ingredients, the local grapes, which are then transformed in
must (grape juice), and then cooked till it gets the typical syrupiness.
For the Traditional balsamic vinegar nothing else is required, unless
we consider barrels and patience as other fundamental ingredients,
since in fact they are. Many barrels of small size and different woods
are required to start and maintain the very slow fermenting process,
which develops alcohol and at the same time turns it into acetic acid,
enriching it with the thousands of flavors coming from the woods in
which it stays. Barrels are grouped into 'batteries' (typical lines
of 5,6,7 or more barrels - 'vaselli'- with decreasing size), and these
are placed in large and airy attics, where the summer heat helps fermentation,
and winter cold invite to decanting , making the product brilliant
and clear. The acidity of the liquid, increasing in time, helps the
extraction of the aromatic principles from the different woods: every
year half of the content of the smaller barrel is taken out
,
and the barrel is filled again using part of the content from the
preceding barrel. This process goes on without interruption for many
years, at least 12, but sometimes even 25, 30 or more, until the balsamic
has acquired ideal body, syrupiness and taste: at this point, the
producers that wish to place a part of their production on the market
must submit it to the examination of a special Tasting Committee and,
if passed, the product is then bottled and sealed by the Consortium.
If
vinegar can be obtained from any alcoholic liquid (and so from a wine,
but also from beer, apple cider, fermented honey, spirits and wines
of other fruits), the only vinegar deriving from the alcoholic and
acidic fermentation of a grape must is balsamic vinegar. Balsamic
generates from grape must that had a proper concentration, that is,
an evaporation of a part of the original water by heating, so that
they are reduced to about one third of their original volume. Must
is obtained by a soft pressing of grapes. The variety most commonly
used is Trebbiano, whose grapes must be harvested at a good ripening
stage, or even over-ripened. However, also Lambruschi (Grasparossa,
Salamino di Santa Croce, Sorbara, L. Marani) and other kinds of grapes
are used, but all of them are coming from the Emilia Romagna region.
The following phase is the alcoholic and acidic fermentation of must,
taking place in special wooden casks: this method allows the product
to develop and maintain good aroma and flavor. Then there is the maturation
cycle, when the product is placed in barrels of precious woods (oak,chestnut,
cherry and mulberry ), and left there to sit for a variable period
of time, depending from the quality. At this point, after months or
years, a control of the maturation stage is run, through laboratory
analyses intended to check the physical and chemical parameters, and
after them also the sensory quality, through panel tests run by certified
tasters checking organoleptic qualities. The last step is bottling,
and its delivery on markets.
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The production cycle of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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The production cycle of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
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