Balsamic Vinegar Information

You might wonder why balsamic vinegar is showing up on a wine site. The answer is easy - it is made with wine! It was used way back in the year 1,000. The name, meaning "like Balsam", refers to its rich spicy aroma. Since people have been drinking wine for thousands of years, it's no surprise that they enjoyed wine vinegar too. This is simply what happens to wine when it gets old.

Of course, they don't tend to "let" a wine get old in order to make vinegar. They control it. With balsamic vinegar they use specific types of wine - the Trebbiano and Lambrusco red grape as well as the spergola white grape. A balsamic vinegar must be 100% wine - nothing else.

The wine is then aged in different oak barrels to give flavor to the wine. These are acacia, ask, cherry, chestnut, juniper, mullbery and oak. It is aged anywhere from 12 years to 150 years. Of course the older the better.

Balsamic vinegar is not meant to be glugged all over your salad. It is a concentrated flavor and is meant to be added in small amounts to your dish!

There are of course many fake balsamic vinegars on the market, with artificial flavors. It's important to read the label when choosing your botle.

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