TRADITIONAL BALSAMIC VINEGAR

HOW IS OBTAINED?

The production follows simple and precise procedures according to the ABTRE standards, which must be carried accurately, in the correct sequence, choosing the most suitable time and place. Personal touches however do exist and these are passed down, most often by word-of-mouth from generation to generation.

The procedures necessary to obtain the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia Terra del Tuono consists of 3 very important stages:

The Harvesting of the grapes

To obtain the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar Terra del Tuono the harvested grapes must be those used for the wine traditionally cultivated in the province of Reggio Emilia and specially from Lambrusco and Trebbiano grapes.

Pressing of the grapes and cooking of the grape-must

The cooking of the grape must should occur almost simultaneously as the pressing. The must is cooked for several hours over direct flame and in an open vessel, to obtain an average concentration of the same of min. 50%.

Aging

Aging takes place in a series of small barrels made of different kinds of woods and having decreasing volumes, usually kept in the attics of local farm houses. Every year, using a special method of decanting, the smallest cask of the sequence provides a few litres of the product, while the reduction due to concentration is compensated for by the addition of cooked grape must to the largest cask.