Vinegars

Come taste our wonderful varieties of balsamic vinegars sourced world-wide for your tasting and cooking pleasure!

 
Buy Tastealotta Vinegars & Glazes
 

Modena, Italy Balsamic Vinegars

We offer over 30 of the finest Solera Aged and naturally flavored balsamic vinegars from Modena, Italy. Both our white and dark barrel aged balsamic viinegars are certified to come from Modena, and are the highest quality available.

Our dark vinegars are cooked over an open wood fire and contain an equivalent amount of dried solid extracts as DOP balsamic. Our balsamic vinegars are aged in old, seasoned wood casks which impart flavor and terroir from residual grape must that was previously aged in the same barrel for decades.

 

Come, Taste & Enjoy

There is no substitute for personal experience when it comes to balsamic vinegars. Try as many vinegars as you can. That is why we encourage tasting at Tastealotta. Balsamic Vinegar is a very personal experience. You will find your personal favorites from our selections from Modena, Italy.

This time honored attention to quality and detail results in an exceedingly smooth, dense, complex product which cannot be duplicated. Tastealotta vinegars have no added sugar, no thickeners, no artificial caramel color or flavoring is added, ever!!.

The Making of Balsamic Vinegar

Only two areas in Italy produce true traditional balsamic vinegar, Modena and neighboring Reggio Emilia. True balsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of pressed Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes. The resulting thick syrup, called mosto cotto in Italian, is subsequently aged for a minimum of 12 years in a battery of several barrels of successively smaller sizes.

The casks are made of different woods like chestnut, cherry, oak, mulberry, ash and juniper. True balsamic vinegar is rich, glossy, deep brown in color, and has a complex flavor that balances the natural sweet and sour elements of the cooked grape juice with hints of wood from the casks..

Modena uses a system to indicate the age of its balsamic vinegars (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena). A white-colored cap means the vinegar has aged for at least 12 years and a gold cap bearing the designation extra vecchio (extra-old) shows the vinegar has aged for 25 years or more.

 

Wonderful Tastealotta Balsamic Vinegars

Balsamic vinegar is a reduction made from grapes, but it is not considered a wine vinegar because the grape juice used is unfermented. Balsamic vinegar is thicker than regular vinegar and sweet-tart. It's a strong fruity but tart taste.

To enjoy and taste different balsamic vinegars is much like wine tasting. To assess the quality of a balsamic vinegar of Modena, pour a small amount of vinegar into a glass goblet. The density can be observed by turning the glass, just like in wine tasting. The thicker the remains left on the walls of the glass, the denser the vinegar.

Balsamic vinegar is delicious drizzled over salads, of course. But try it in cooked dishes, too. Balsamic vinegar holds onto its spicy kick, balancing the rich flavor of meat, poultry, and fish, and adding welcome acidity to vegetables.