Balsamic Vinegar

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By Alastair Little and Richard Whittington

Published 1998

About

Balsamic vinegar is the ultimate vinegar, dark and potent with an incredible sweet intensity. Real balsamic vinegar comes exclusively from Modena and the surrounding area of Italy and is made from grape juice which is first boiled to reduce its volume by two-thirds before being put into oak barrels and matured for years. At intervals, as further volume is lost by evaporation and soaking into the wood, the vinegar is put into smaller and smaller barrels until reduced by a further six times.

The finest, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, is barrel-aged for more than 20 years, which goes some way to explaining its retail price of £60 and upwards per litre. By the time it has been put into small bottles with fancy labels the price can exceed £100 a litre. In the past, grand families in Modena would have barrels of balsamico laid down on the birth of a daughter as part of her dowry, rather as smart people have port laid down if a good vintage coincides with the birth of a son.

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