{"id":41822,"date":"2018-08-08T05:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.travelemiliaromagna.it\/balsamic-tales-aging-process\/"},"modified":"2022-12-04T09:02:21","modified_gmt":"2022-12-04T08:02:21","slug":"balsamic-tales-aging-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelemiliaromagna.it\/en\/balsamic-tales-aging-process\/","title":{"rendered":"The Balsamic Tales: the Aging Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0\u201cBalsamic Tales\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0are a series of writings dedicated to\u00a0Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena<\/a>, made from interviews with people who dedicated their lives to this precious dressing, for work or for passion.
\nWe thank PierPaolo Bortolotti, an expert in Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Emilio Biancardi of\u00a0Acetaia Villa Bianca<\/a>and Massimo Cl\u00f2 of\u00a0Collegio San Carlo di Modena<\/a>, for their willingness and precious information.
\nAfter telling\u00a0the Origins<\/a>\u00a0and the Productive Process<\/a>, in this third episode<\/strong> we look into one of the most important phases, the Aging, to understand the transformations and the relative characteristics that this main product of the Modena area acquires during its maturation.<\/p>\n

\n

A quite known issue for those interested in Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is the fact that batches are composed by barrels made of different types of wood one from each other. Some say that this is a deliberate choice, but in reality, at least initially, the use of barrels of different types of wood<\/strong> has been an almost random historical fact.<\/p>\n

In the Modena area barrels were made mostly in oak or in mulberry, rarely in juniper; then there were the chestnut barrels, partly made of planks from the territory’s woods, partly coming from Tuscany; the chestnut barrels were in fact used for transport wines: they were the classic carratelli<\/em>, barrels with an elongated shape, which, once arrived in Modena, were reused for wine and, when they began to have defects, were used to make vinegar.<\/p>\n

In short, barrels used in the batches of Balsamic Vinegar were often recycled<\/em> barrels<\/strong>, therefore contingently made with different woods; only over the years producers has realized that during the aging process the product takes the characteristics of the different types of wood in which has been contained, and consumers has begun to appreciate the different nuances of flavor<\/strong>. This is why over the years other woods have been inserted, such as cherry, which is not a traditional wood for balsamic vinegar, but which gives a very sweet, almond flavor.
\nCurrently the most common wood for the production of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is oak<\/strong>, an acid wood that is ideal for the first phase of the aging process; then there are chestnut and mulberry<\/strong>, which are more neutral and porous woods, which let the product breathe. The juniper<\/strong>, on the contrary, is a very pungent wood because it is resinous, and requires at least 40 years to give a ready-to-eat vinegar, and in any case it gives a product with a strong taste.
\nIn short, to give a practical idea of \u200b\u200buse, vinegar aged in juniper is used to prepare a dish of game, vinegar aged in cherry\u00a0<\/strong>is perfect with a dessert or an ice cream.<\/p>\n