• Consortium of Producers
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  • Definition of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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  • A severe Quality Control
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  • How to make Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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  • How to use Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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    Acetaia di Giorgio
     

    TIPICAL MODENESE ACETAIA Tipica acetaia modenese

    L'acetaia modenese trova collocazione nel sottotetto della casa. Necessita di grandi calori estivi per concentrare e maturare il prezioso "balsamico".

    TRAVASI E RINCALZI DI UNA TIPICA BATTERIA MODENESE Travasi e rincalzi di una acetaia modenese

     

    How to make the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

    SIMPLE ANCIENT PROCEDURES

    The production follows simple and precise procedures according to the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena regulations, which must be carried accurately, in the correct sequence, choosing the most suitable time and place.
    Personal touches however, do exist, and these are passed down, most often by word-of-mouth, from generation to generation.
    The procedure necessary in oder to obtain Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena consists in three basic stages:
    THE HARVESTING OF THE GRAPES
    THE PRESSING OF THE GRAPES AND THE COOKING OF THE GRAPE MUST
    THE AGING

     

    THE HARVESTING OF THE GRAPES

    In order to obtain the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, the grapes harvested must be those "used for the wine traditionally cultivated in the province of Modena", and in particular, from Lambrusco and Trebbiano grapes.

     

    THE PRESSING OF THE GRAPES AND THE COOKING OF THE GRAPE MUST

    The cooking of the must should occur almost simultaneously as the pressing.
    The must is cooked for several hours over a "direct flame and in an open vessel" until it reaches a concentration averaging around 50%.

     

    the aging

    Aging takes place in a series of small barrels made of different kinds of woods and having decreasing volume, usually kept in the attic of the house. Every year, using a special method of decanting, the smallest cask of the sequence provides a few litres of the products, while the reduction due to concentration is compensated for by the addition of cooked grape-must to the largest cask. Only after at least 15 or 25 years the maturing does the product reach that surprising balance of aromas and flavour that allows it to bear the title of "Protected Origin Denomination" (D.O.P.).