Lessons in balsamic vinegar: the real stuff and how to taste it

It’s very rare to find good traditional balsamic vinegar.
“Aceto balsamico” is one of Italy’s great products, with a grand tradition which imitations just cannot replicate.
There are various balsamic vinegars on the market, and when dealing with the traditional ones, there are different ways in which to use them according to their age.

Andrea Bezzecchi from the Acetaia San Giacomo has some advice about how best to judge, taste and use your balsamic vinegar.

The main characteristics of a good balsamic vinegar:First of all, we have to specify that we’re talking about traditional balsamic vinegar, which can only be made in Reggio Emilia and Modena, while non-traditional vinegar can be made anywhere.
The traditional version needs to have good consistency (viscosity) and good colour, but the visual aspect only counts for six percent of its quality.
The rest is made up of overall harmony of flavour, acidity and especially the smell of its age and wood.

For the “lobster” labelled vinegar a minimum of 12 years ageing is required, for the “extra vecchio” gold label a minimum of 25 years is required, while the silver label falls between the two.

But on the market you can find many types of balsamic vinegar:There are 900 million litres of balsamic vinegar on the market.
Only 30,000 bottles of 100 ml (3,000 litres) are produced a year of the traditional vinegar from Reggio Emilia, and only 120,000 bottles of 100 ml of traditional vinegar from Modena produced.
Therefore, just one percent of balsamic vinegar production is classified as traditional.
How best to consume it?Aged balsamic vinegar should be tasted after meals, on a porcelain spoon or on the hand, as a digestive.
Fatty foods like “cotechino”, salami and sausage can be dressed with balsamic vinegar that is not so aged.
Other aged vinegar can be used on desserts and even with cheese.