Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Di Modena

Traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena is exquisite, rare and expensive, about £40 for 100mls (4 Oz). The inexpensive industrial balsamic, an imitation, can be copied at home by adding caramel to cider vinegar.

Made from the local white Trebbiano grapes, after acetification the traditional balsamic vinegar is aged and decanted into a succession of barrels of different woods, each barrel smaller than the next, including chestnut, oak, cherry and ash. Juniper is no longer used, I’m told, because it is considered too aromatic, but a small piece of juniper wood might be put into one of the oak barrels. Ageing will last at least 12 years, and often more than 25, when it is entitled to be called strayecchia (mellow).