Traditional Balsamic Vinegar Of Modena Pdo

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PDO is a noble product that has its roots in the 1400s and is obtained from only two ingredients: cooked grape must and time. As per the PDO guidelines (the coveted Protected Designation of Origin certification), the time the product is required to stay inside the battery or set of barrels is closely regulated by a routine racking and refilling process. For Traditional Vinegar of Modena PDO, the minimum aging time cannot be less than 12 years. This version produced by Bonini, the “Riserva”, presented in elegant black packaging, has been aged for 25 years.

The slow acidification of grape must begins with the cooking of the must in steel vats, for a minimum of 48 hours. Bonini uses only Trebbiano grapes that provide the balsamic vinegar with a perfect balance between acidity and sweetness of the final product. After cooking, the must is skimmed and the contents are introduced into the “badessa” or the mother barrel, the first step of the set (or battery) of barrels, which usually consists of another 5 to 7 of these. The “badessa” is the only “open” barrel, where oxygen can enter and favor the work carried out by the “vinegar bacteria”. Other very old barrels are connected to the mother barrel, where vinegar bacteria continues to work, feeding on the seasonal temperature changes.

What exactly happens inside the barrels? Acetic fermentation, a process in which sugars turn into alcohol and, after a long period of time, the caramelization of sugars: balsamic vinegar is the final result of this process. From the largest barrel to the smallest barrel, the vinegar is racked and refilled: each barrel will keep at least a third of the liquid inside, which will then pass on to the next (and smaller) barrel. The most important variable is precisely this third, which remains at the bottom of each barrel. These “leftovers” contain product particles that date back to the very first set of barrels, an ancestral umami and witness of every generation that takes on the burden and responsibility of looking after the barrels.

Crystallized particles in the walls of the barrels can date back as far as 50 years ago and this is precisely the secret of each balsamic vinegar producer: the ability to preserve this “sediment”, which will subsequently give complexity and round off the taste of this refined product.

The company

Born from the genuine passion for Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Bonini srl is located on the outskirts of Modena, in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. The company exclusively follows Modena’s tradition by which Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PDO and condiments have been made for generations, a vision that involves the use of a single ingredient: cooked must, obtained from Trebbiano grapes. The slow acetification process of the must gives life to a product of extreme quality which, over the years, has conquered some of the most coveted tables in the world.

Origin

Modena, ITALY

Type

Balsamic vinegar aged in sets of barrels for at least 25 years

Format

100 ml

Product label: the specific information relating to the products may vary due to modifications made by the manufacturers, which could temporarily lead to a discrepancy between the information available on the website and the information displayed on the products delivered. We therefore invite you to double check the information found on the product label or on the package before consuming or using it.

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