Balsamic vinegar (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena) is widely known as the black gold of Modena and is the result of a long ripening process and unique ageing of its kind.

The basis is boiled most made from mashed grapes which are boiled up to reduce their volume and increase the sugar content. Once this process is finished the most is placed to work into barrels of various sizes and types of wood. In those barrels it stays for many years until it becomes the widely known nectar that is treasured so much by everyone.

The base for the production of Balsamic vinegar is the set of barrels. One set consists of a series of barrels with decreasing holding capacity, whereas the freshly boiled most is filled in the biggest (called abbess) and in the others the product is filled according to the age groups so that the smallest barrel contains the oldest product.

The minimum number of barrels is 5 pieces per set, that’s how many different types of essences the Balsamic vinegar has to go through to be considered as excellent, but normally the sets are by far bigger. The types of wood for the barrels are oak, mulberry, chestnut, cherry, acacia and the modesty of the juniper. All these types of wood have to be available and are substantial for the production of a good product because the Balsamic vinegar draws from each one a part of the very taste and smell that build his bouquet and guarantee his famousness.

Every year the procedure of the reverse decanting takes place to replace the part of the lost (through taking out, leakage and evaporation) with the product from the directly previous barrel. This procedure is continued until the abbess is reached, which then will be filled with freshly boiled most. In the course of the years, minimum is 13 the product ripens until it becomes Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena . To be exact we are talking about the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena affinato (ripened for 13 years) or about the Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena extravecchio (minimum age of 25 years).