January 6, 2009 The Vinegar Master

How to Count

Among our readers are some good counters, who may wonder how years 1998 to 2009 add up to 12 years of ageing for our balsamic vinegar.

(Note that we state here on our website that 12 years of ageing is the minimum for our balsamic and the minimum to be considered as “traditional” style balsamic.)

We age our vinegar in a dedicated building, our acetaia (vinegar loft), where, during the first year of our process, 1997, we conducted a once-only process of acidifying our Renzi casks from Modena, Italy.

This single-step is taken when all new casks are filled with red wine.  That red wine is naturally triggered to become red wine vinegar right in the casks, where it remains for much of a year.

The classic, one-time-only process moderates tannins in the casks’ wood staves– then, importantly, this red wine vinegar becomes a key ingredient in the young balsamic, carrying along some of the original wood flavors into following annual waves of balsamic.

So, even while our casks are marked “1998”, our process began in 1997.  Count from then.

Keep this in mind, too: along with time, the truest measures of traditional balsamic vinegars are those qualities of taste, duration of taste, aroma, appearance, and mouth-feel.  With these measures, we are confident -- and believe our balsamic is just the right age for you to enjoy.