The finest balsamico vinegars have no other ingredients added to them - only the trebbiano grapes. Lesser vinegars will include brown sugar or caramel to mimic the sweetness of the true balsamico. If a company creates a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar, they will also create a less expensive, but quality vinegar as well.

View our complimentary Balsamic Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Salad dressings.

Balsamic vinegar is Made by reduced white grapes (typically, trebbiano grapes) that has been boiled down to approximately 50% ("must") and fermenting that into alcohol. It is then once again fermented to balsamic vinegar, with a slow aging procedure done in oak barrels that concentrates the flavors. The flavor is deepened over decades, with the vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming sweet, syrupy and very concentrated in flavour. Some aged balsamico vinegar is added to the "must" to create a more complex and intricate taste, and to add acidity.

The syrup is transferred to oak casks to ferment in the open air and then begins the long dehydration and aging process that makes aged balsamico vinegar unique. Balsamic vinegar does not degenerate after opening as oxygen is part of the aging process, you can treasure your best bottle and use it on special occasions. Do not heat or cook balsamic vinegar as it will destroy the taste.

As a key ingredient in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic blends particularly well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic vinaigrette is great with seafood, fresh spinach and asparagus. A balsamic salad dressing does well with winter veggies such as carrots, turnips, squash and sweet potatoes, as well as new mixed greens or baby spinach.

The Mediterranean diet, characterized by cuisine such as Italian food, has been gaining popularity in North America, where the consumption of traditional Mediterranean foods, such as cold pressed olive oil and balsamic vinegar, has been increasing. Many people are finding this diet as a healthy alternative to fatty foods and deep fried food preparation.

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