Wood: Balsamic Vinegar's Secret Ingredient

Описание: Justin Marx discovers what part wood selection plays in the production of aged balsamic vinegars.

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Transcript:
Justin: "An aha moment from my Italy trip was that the type of wood and the barrel selection actually has a significant impact on the quality of the vinegar.

In Traditional DOP balsamics, the producers can actually only use one ingredient: cooked grape must...which is basically cooked juice. But the barrels that they age the vinegar in aren't just containers - they're responsible for the distinctive flavors that you find between different varieties of vinegar. The wood itself imparts flavor and can even change the consistency.

Enrico from Compagnia del Montale explained it to me.

So tell me about these six barrels, what kind of wood? Because it sounds like one of the keys to the recipe is the wood, right? So what wood do you use?"

Enrico: "Here we have cherry wood in the beginning, because cherry has a good flavor (of cherry, obviously) and it's also a soft wood. In the beginning of the production it's good because inside the barrel it's easier to get the fermentation because the air from the outside to the inside is passed better.

We use hard wood in the end of the production - oak wood, which is hard - because we need only to refine. The fermentation is basically done.

In the middle we use frassino [ash wood]. And then we have acacia and chestnut wood. [They use mulberry for the second barrel.]"

Justin: "And how old are these barrels?"

Enrico: "This one is more or less 40 years. The oldest one of our production is this one, the black one, it's 70 years old (more or less).

But the best one is this one, this set of barrels. It's the ugly one, but the best one, because we won the award as Best Producers of the European Union 2012."

Justin: "I see, with that set right there. Then for 2012 the best vinegar in all Modena is right there."

Enrico: "Yes, In all the world, because we produce [balsamic] vinegar only here."