Confession: Until a few weeks ago, balsamic vinegar was just another product in my arsenal of essential ingredients. The bottle is one of several vinegars in my pantry - sherry, white wine, red wine, rice, pomegranate, cider, cherry, Chinkiang, and date. Any one of them might be called upon to add that dash of brightness to liven up a dish or to provide that acid kick in a vinaigrette. The one I choose is based on a combination of factors including flavor, color, and the ethnicity of the cuisine it will be paired with. Well, a recent visit to Modena has reshaped how I look at vinegar, particularly its signature balsamic. But to fully appreciate this humble pantry staple, one must go back in time.
Vinegar is believed to be one of the world’s oldest cooking ingredients. Its origins go hand and hand with wine-making. Residues from pottery provide evidence that people were making wine as early as 6000 BCE. Since clay pots were not completely air tight, it would only take a day or two for wine to go sour and voilà, vinegar was born. However, it’s quite possible that vinegar was on the scene even sooner. Grape cultivation dates back to around 8000 BCE. You can’t tell me it took 2000 years to turn those grapes into wine! Not only that, any liquid that contains sugar and starch has the potential to ferment and become sour. You know someone out there must have sampled this juice and thought, “Hmmmmm… that’s kinda good.”
By 5000 BCE, it’s well known that the Babylonians were producing wine using the juice from dates, figs, and pomegranates. Not ones to be wasteful, the leftover pulp was also allowed to ferment and go sour. The resulting vinegar became an important flavor enhancer and pickling agent. In addition Babylonians were way ahead of the shrub trend, enjoying the vinegar as a tasty libation.
It wasn’t until around 2000 BCE that vinegar making went from the humble homestead to commercial production. But even then, the methodology hadn’t been perfected. It could take months for a soured wine to become a palatable vinegar. As a result, vinegar was a limited ingredient, making it unaffordable to the average consumer. Wealthy Egyptians would even trade vinegar for embalming services. Legend has it that Cleopatra, in an act of defiance to Marc Antony, once dissolved a pearl in a glass of vinegar so that she could drink the world’s most expensive beverage. The early history of vinegar is certainly a “who’s who” of characters. In the 5th century, Hippocrates credited vinegar for its medicinal properties. Pliny the Elder wrote, “… no other sauce serves so well to season food or to heighten a flavor.”
By the Middle Ages, vinegar’s popularity had waned, not because lack of interest but because it had become more readily available. No longer exclusive, but now affordable to the working class, it lost its appeal to the wealthy who moved on to expensive wines and beer. Of course there were still aficionados of vinegar, which takes us to the Canossa court in Reggio-Emilia. There, Benedictine monk Donizone produced vinegar that, according to one legend, was so impressive King Henry III requested it for his own personal consumption in 1046 CE. Around the end of the 1200s, the Este Court of Modena was established. The duke, Francesco I, was a passionate vinegar maker who dedicated a tower in the castle for his hobby. He started a tradition that continued well after his death. In 1747, some of the castle’s precious vinegar was being transported from a secret cellar back to the tower. The tracking list called the vinegar balsamico - the very first document to refer to the vinegar by this name. The word makes sense as it alludes to the terms balm and balsam, which refer to the medicinal tonics of the time. (And while we’re talking etymology, the word vinegar comes from the French term vin aigre, which means “sour wine.”)
By the time balsamic vinegar got its name, the method of making vinegar in barrels had been in place since the 1500s. For this, we have to go to the city of Orleans, France located on the Loire River. Barrels of wine that had gone sour en route to Paris would be discarded along the river. Rather than dump it out, people took the barrels and allowed the vinegar to continue to age. This started a new industry. At one point, there were over 300 vinegar makers in Orleans. But this aged, French wine vinegar was far from the balsamic that would eventually hail from Emilia-Romagna.
Traditional balsamic is not technically a wine vinegar. Producers typically start with Lambrusco and/or Trebbiano grapes. Other varieties like Ancellotta, Berzimino, Sgavetta, Occhio di Gatta, and Sauvignon are also utilized in smaller amounts. After a late harvest the grapes are gently pressed to avoid crushing the seeds, which would lead to bitterness. The resulting juice, or grape must, is brought to a boil and allowed to reduce to 30 - 50% of its original volume. It’s during the boil that caramelization occurs, concentrating the juice’s flavor and giving it a deep golden hue. The cooked must, known as mosto cotto, is then placed in the botte madre (mother barrel). Inside this barrel a series of chemical reactions facilitated by yeast, bacteria, and enzymes will start to transform that delicious syrup into what will become balsamic vinegar.
Within the acetaia, or vinegar house, the opening to the botte madre is left unsealed, covered only by a delicate crocheted doily. Air-borne yeast from the genus Zygosacchoromyces and bacteria from the genus Acetobacter take up residence in the barrel. The yeast feast on the sugars in the mosto cotto, producing alcohol as a by-product. The bacteria use that alcohol as their source of energy. This keeps the alcohol concentration from becoming too high, which would kill the yeast. It’s a perfect symbiotic relationship. While the Aceti are metabolizing the alcohol, they produce acetic acid, a waste product. After a period of time, the yeast and bacteria form a mat on the surface of the liquid known as “the mother.”
Meanwhile, row upon row of smaller barrels are lined up in the acetaia’s attic. Each series of barrels, called a batteria, goes from largest (youngest) to smallest (oldest). During the summer months, high heat and humidity give the yeast and bacteria a boost. Fermentation kicks into full gear. The microbes aren’t the only players. Even the wood bestows adds its own bit of magic. The tannins present in chestnut add color. Cherry boosts sweetness. Oak imparts vanilla, juniper a piney spiciness. By the end of one full year, up to 10% of the liquid in each barrel will have evaporated, concentrating both flavor and aroma. From the oldest barrels, the producer will take up to 30% of the liquid gold inside and bottle it. That barrel is topped off with vinegar from the next oldest barrel in the battery. This process is repeated until he or she gets to the youngest barrel. It’s here that juice taken from the botte madre keeps the process going year after year.
Of course this is a very slow process. The yeast and bacteria work at their own pace. Vinegar makers waited patiently for their vinegar to age, but there were those who asked, “How can we speed this up?” By the 18th century, people understood that oxygen was necessary for the production of the vinegar. This lead to the “trickle method” in which the liquid was slowly poured over wood shavings or grapevine twigs in order to aerate it. Then in 1865 Louis Pasteur put the rest of the puzzle together by identifying Acebacter aceti, bacteria who rely upon the oxygen, as the culprits behind the production of acetic acid. This discovery lead to the invention of the acetator, a submerged device that adds a constant stream of bubbles into the liquid. A process that once took months could now be whittled down to few weeks. But we didn’t stop there. The knowledge gained from culturing penicillin during World War II to was applied to culturing the yeast and the bacteria. Why wait for the mother to form naturally in the botte madre when it could be grown on petri dishes? This advancement allowed large scale vinegar production to take as little as one day.
In 1967, industrial production of Aceto Balsamico di Modena was launched. Ten years later, Modena’s balsamic vinegar was imported into the United States by none other than Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma. Consumers couldn’t get enough of it. Demand surged, the supply dwindled, and soon enough imitations arrived on the scene. By the early 1990s, balsamic producers recognized that something needed to be done to protect the reputation of Modena’s beloved vinegar. In 1993 the Consorzio Tutela Aceto Balsamico di Modena was established. The consortium worked diligently to regulate the production of balsamic vinegar and to ultimately obtain Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status. This was finally achieved in 2009. Thankfully vinegar producers were used to being patient!
Acronyms can often be very confusing, but it’s important to understand what they mean. First, PGI and IGP (Indication of Protected Geography) are synonymous. When a balsamic receives the PGI label, a consumer knows that the vinegar was processed in Modena. What’s important to note is that the grapes may be grown outside of Emilia-Romagna, aging in wooden barrels is optional, and it may contain up to 50% wine vinegar. In addition, the use of grape must is not required and aging can take as little as two months. Producers are also allowed to add caramel color, sugar, and thickeners. This is not to say that one can’t find a high quality PGI vinegar, but it’s important to read the label carefully. Look for the the term condimento and an additional stamp from the Consorzio di Balsamico Condimento on the bottle. For these products, grape must should be the first ingredient followed by wine vinegar. Further, if it says that the vinegar is aged, you know that it is at least 3 years old. Without any PGI label, including those which are not condimento, it’s quite likely that the “balsamic” is simply vinegar with flavorings and color added to make it look and taste like the real thing. In Europe, they are at least required to use fermented fruit to make the vinegar, whereas in the US, vinegar can be derived from petroleum.
But what about the liquid gold that is undergoing its slow transformation in the attics of Modena’s acetaias? These vinegars, which make up less than 0.01% of the balsamic produced in Emilia-Romagna, receive the coveted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO / DOP) stamp. They are labeled Aceto Balsamic Tradizionale di Modena. In order to achieve this, the grape growing, preparation, and processing must take place within the province, it has to be aged for a minimum of 12 years, and it has to be produced using traditional methods. PDO balsamic is also packaged in a specific way. In Reggio, 100 milliliters is poured into bullet-shaped bottles. A red cap indicates 12 years, a silver cap 18 years, and a gold cap is 25 years or more. Over in Modena, they’ve opted for the round bottle which also holds 100 milliliters of vinegar. They use a white cap for balsamic that’s at least 12 years old and a gold cap for the extravecchio (25+ years). In many cases, these producers are also responsible for making aged condimento balsamic in order to supplement their product line.
When planning our trip to Italy, a visit to an acetaia was one of the non-negotiables. After researching a handful of places, we decided upon Acetaia San Matteo located just 30 minutes outside of the Modena city center. There, an old stone house sits nestled amongst the vineyards where Lambrusco, Trebbiano, and Ancellotta grapes are slowly maturing. We were greeted by Sandra, who runs the business alongside her husband, Luciano. Sandra grew up on the farm where her family had been making vinegar for their own consumption since the early 1900s. When Sandra was born, her parents started a batteria to celebrate her birth. When she married Luciano, those barrels were part of her dowry. Imagine how privileged we felt when she shared a few precious drops of this vinegar with us!
Several years ago, Sandra and Luciano decided to open their doors for tours. The morning we arrived at the acetaia, Sandra was waiting on some other people to show up for the 10:00 am slot. After about 15 minutes, the others didn’t show up affording us a private experience. Sandra escorted us to the barn where the grapes are crushed and boiled down to mosto cotto. The cooked juice is placed into stainless steel tanks until spring at which time it’s moved into the mother barrels where the real transformation begins. Inside the vinegar house, Sandra showed us the mother barrels, giving us a chance to see and take a whiff of the young mixture inside. We then made our way into the attic where 850 barrels hold balsamic vinegars of varying ages.
Throughout the year, Luciano samples the vinegar and just like a wine maker, he’ll make decisions about the percentages of each grape used and the type of wood that will impart the best flavor. Luciano is known as a Master Taster, a status that took forty years to achieve (again, patience). As we meandered through the attic, we sampled several vinegars starting with a seven year condimento. That alone was better than any balsamic I had ever tasted! But Sandra had much more in store for us. We were treated to a 12 year, a 40 year, and finally one that was over 100 years old. We also got to taste the difference between balsamic that finished in cherry wood versus juniper. Each tasting spoon only held a few precious drops of vinegar. Sandra joked that she will spend hours preparing a gigantic meal for family and friends, but it’s the tasting spoon of balsamic at the end of the feast that everyone remembers.
This reflects how the vinegar should be used in our own kitchens. Just a few drops on top of a salad, main course, slice of cheese, or dessert is all that’s needed to elevate a dish to new heights. Even a good condimento balsamic deserves to be used with care. For salad dressings, marinades, and reductions, turn to a good quality PGI balsamic. I’ll often mix this with equal parts mosto cotto (synonymous with saba) to take the flavor to the next level.
To say that our visit to Acetaia San Matteo exceeded expectations is an understatement. Sandra’s passion, charisma, and hospitality were an inspiration. I never really knew balsamic vinegar until that day. I walked in knowing the basics and left a few hours later with a newfound appreciation and respect for this ages-old ingredient. This visit also fueled my curiosity to know more about vinegar’s origins and evolution. Going forward, each time I pull the balsamic from the pantry, I will fondly remember those moments in that beautiful acetaia in the Modena countryside.
At this point I’m hoping you’re ready to go out and get some balsamic vinegar and cook up a good meal. Well, I got you covered. I’ve compiled a shopping list with products from Delaurenti, one of my favorite stores located at Pike Place Market. The products can also be purchased online.
A reliable PGI balsamic vinegar
PGI Condimento, aged for 3 years
PGI Condimento, aged for 30 years
PDO Tradizionale, aged for 12 years
Once you’ve stocked your pantry with some good balsamic, here are a few resources where you can learn more and get some great recipes.
Now it’s time to host a dinner party and amaze your guests with everything you’ve learned about balsamic vinegar. They will be so impressed. Here’s a full menu that also showcases summer’s best ingredients.
A pre-dinner drink: Strawberry-Chile Balsamic Shrub
Appetizer: Pancetta Wrapped Peaches with Aged Balsamic
First course: Tomato-Cucumber Panzanella with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Main course: Salmon with Wilted Watercress and Lemon-Balsamic Dressing
I hope you’ve enjoyed taking this deep dive with me. I would LOVE to hear your feedback. Please share your thoughts, ideas, recipes, and favorite brand(s) of balsamic vinegar in the comment section. And if you enjoyed reading this, please share the link with others!
Note: Chef Jennifer is not affiliated with any of the products or merchants that she recommends, nor does she receive any compensation for recommending the products.
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