Heart of Viscid Darkness: Our Guide to Buying Balsamic Vinegar.

Things came full circle for me in Modena, Italy, this year. I finally caught the syrupy dragon I had been chasing for years.

In the early days of our blog, we took an incredible food tour in Boston led by Chef Jim Becker. It was during that stroll through the city’s North End (Little Italy) that I tasted traditional balsamic vinegar for the first time. Its flavorful complexity gripped me on that spring afternoon and I’ve been chasing that taste ever since, until I finally found myself in Emilia-Romagna this spring with a spoonful of 25-year-old balsamic vinegar saturating my taste buds.

Our arrival to Acetaia di Giorgio signaled the final stop on our tasting pilgrimage through Emilia-Romagna. We had set off at dawn from our Bologna flat determined to see Parmigiano Reggiano cheese being produced at a consortium in Parma. Then, we were back on the train to Modena, where we followed the long boulevard out of the city center to see the production of traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena at Acetaia di Giorgio.

Giovanna Barbieri at her home.

We met Giorgio and Giovanna Barbieri, the cheerful couple behind the viscous dark vinegar, and then Giovanna led us to the upper floor of the 19th century house–past family photos, certificates and awards, and even a letter from President Obama himself–and into the heart of the family’s craft.

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True balsamic vinegar can only come from Modena and Reggio Emilia and has to adhere to strict government guidelines—such as being aged for a minimum of 12 years in wood barrels—to be certified as Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, Becker explained to us during our Boston food tour.  After it’s certified, the balsamic vinegar can then only be sold in the province’s official 3-ounce containers, he said.

At more than $100 per bottle, traditional balsamic vinegar has the complex flavor of a mature wine. Its rich, penetrating layers of sweet and sour carry aromas of fruit and wood. This harmonious combination creates a powerful flavor that stays with you like great sex, making it worth every penny.

However, because of its cost, Becker said, this is not the balsamic vinegar to use for cooking or on your salad. Instead, he recommended drizzling it over roasted meats, a chunk of Parmesan, fresh strawberries, peaches, or gelato since the acidity of the balsamic vinegar pairs well with sweet items and the fat in meats, gelato and certain salty cheeses. The one exception being strawberries whose acidity actually works nicely with the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar, he explained.

If you don’t want to pay the hefty price for the traditional product or you just want a balsamic for everyday use, then your next option is commercial balsamic vinegar. But because there are no laws relating to it, this is where things can turn sticky, Becker says.

One marketing ploy that Becker said to watch out for are the cheap bottles of balsamic labeled with “Modena.” “There’s such a demand in this country now that even Italy is producing the low quality balsamic vinegar for the American market,” he explained. “Just because it says ‘Modena’ on the bottle, that shouldn’t serve as a guarantee of quality”.

In theory, commercial balsamic should be a mix of grape “must” (unfermented pressed grapes) and red wine vinegar, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the only thing in the bottle is poor quality vinegar sweetened with sugar and colored with caramel coloring, Becker said.

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Giovanna walked us through the fermentation process where the vinegar is aged in increasingly smaller wooden barrels for a minimum of 12 years, finally producing 2 to 3 liters of vinegar. “The service of these barrels can tell the story of our family,” she said smiling.

Giorgio’s relatives started producing balsamic vinegar in Modena about 120 years ago. At that time, the vinegar was made only for family members and used as part of a woman’s dowry, she explained. These days Acetaia di Giorgio is recognized for producing some of the most coveted balsamic vinegar in the world.

Now that we had a grasp of the fermentation process, it was time for some tasting. I knew we were in for a treat, but what I had not anticipated was the variety of flavors that were about to dance in my mouth. I was aware that the length of fermentation played a big part in the taste, but I didn’t realize that small family-run producers also used different-types of wood barrels, such as cherry,  juniper or oak, to invoke different flavors in their balsamic vinegar.

By the time we were ready to leave, the high cost of traditional balsamic vinegar made complete sense to me, unlike expensive wine, which I’m still apprehensive about. The effort and patience that is packed into every viscid drop was not lost on us and we bought a bottle of the ExtraVecchio Ciliegia (aged for over 25 years mainly in cherry wood barrels) for Beth’s sister, well aware that this would truly be a gift with benefits.

How to buy Balsamic Vinegar

The front door to the Barbieri home.

A couple of months ago I was writing a balsamic vinegar story for Men’s Health’s food blog, Guy Gourmet, and I wanted to include some recommendations for balsamic vinegar. So I reached out to Becker again to get his tips and for suggestions for buying both traditional and commercial balsamic vinegar.

When buying traditional balsamic, Becker says to look for “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale,” an indication that it belongs to a consortium of producers. “Whether its from Modena or Reggio Emilia, these are the Rolls Royces in the balsamic vinegar universe,” he says.  Becker recommends Acetaia di Giorgio (Modena), Acetaia Leonardi (Modena) and Acetaia San Giacomo (Reggio Emilia).

For commercial balsamic vinegar, the key is to look at the ingredients list for the words “grape must”, “aged grape must,” or “Mosto d’Uva,” Becker contends. “In the commercial world quality really varies, he says, so producers and labels really matter.” A few brands he recommends are Fam, Acetum “Santorini”, and Villa Mandori.

I was excited to hear Becker suggest Acetaia di Giorgio as one of his choices for traditional balsamic vinegar. Beth and I absolutely love their balsamic vinegar. We had an fantastic time meeting Giorgio and Giovanna as well as seeing how true balsamic is made. If you are going to be in the Emilia-Romagna region, then we highly recommend taking a tour of Acetaia di Giorgio. Just be prepared to fall madly in love with their dangerously-good balsamic vinegar.

Know Before You Go

For more stories from Emilia-Romagna, check out:

Travel Bites: How To Cook Tagliatelle al Ragu
Visions of Emilia-Romagna: Vines from #BlogVille
Peace, Thrills and Hijinks on the Trebbia River
Soul Searching in Emilia-Romagna with #BlogVille
Emilia-Romagna in 10 Snaps: An Instagram Session
Under the Porticos of Bologna: The Starter Series

Want more Italy? Follow travelers as they journey through Emilia-Romagna this fall with #BlogVille on Twitter.

*This is story is part of Blog Ville, a campaign created and managed by iambassador in partnership with the Emilia-Romagna Tourism Board. As always, our thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.