December 18, 2012 Vinegar Master

2013 Blending in Monticello

Our 2013 balsamic blend — which is in its 16th year of aging — is complete.

All new orders will be drawn from this new blend.  It's our best ever.

The Italians, who developed traditional balsamic vinegar over at least 1000 years, learned that balsamic gets better each year, more nuanced, more viscous, more dense — with higher sugar and acidity values — in a desired balance.

Blending seeks to further refine that balance. 

The pictures of our casks and barrels on this page show decreasing size through the battery.  The aging balsamic moves annually to the adjacent, smaller barrel.  The balsamic is not removed until it reaches the smallest cask.  (Our total annual production leading to a final blend is no more than 35 gallons — or less than 3% of our total volume.  But in our arid climate, evaporation takes 10 times that amount each year.)

We are fortunate to have 8 batteries from renown Modena (Italy) cask maker, Francesco Renzi. Each battery has 7 casks.  Each battery contains casks with 7 different rare woods: ash, acacia, chestnut, oak, mulberry, juniper, and cherry.  

These appear randomly ordered in the acetaia (vinegar loft) since not one of our batteries resembles another battery in order, size of cask or the wood in its staves. This means that each of our 8 batteries produces a unique personality of traditional balsamic.

Blending seeks to unify these distinct balsamic personalities. 

Again this year, we have done that to our great satisfaction!