The "Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" is one of the most ancient and certainly one of the most typical products of the agricultural and culinary production of Modena.
Its origins are uncertain; some maintain that its creation was purely by chance. Because the "Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" is produced by the natural fermentation an acetification of boiled grape must, it seems that the product might have fist been produced accidentally by the spontaneous fermentation of boiled grape must (the "saba" typically used in Modenese cuisine, known since the Romanic age and used as a sweetener with honey) and than the human activity simply adapted a production technique already in use.
The "Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" is produced with boiled grape must,
matured by slow acetification and progressively increased in strength through very long aging in a series of little barrels (vaselli)
made of various different kinds of wood without the addition of foreign substances. It is of a lucent dark brown, reaching its correct density when flowing yet syrupy.
It has a characteristic and penetrating bouquet of pleasant odours and an evident, harmonic and delightful acidity.
The traditional, inimitable and well-balanced taste is bitter-sweet, and generously rich and savoury with velvety nuances in harmony with its own particular characteristic scent. (D.M. 09.02.1987 of the D.O.P. "Denominazione di Origine Protetta" Protetcted Denomination of Origin, a definition given by the "Maestri Assaggiatori" master tasters in March 1976)
