Società Agricola Acetomodena

Aceto Balsamico di Modena

As mentioned, the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena comes from a fermentation of cooked must by special strains of acetic bacteria, often organized in bacterial colonies called "mothers", and from the subsequent slow maturation by enzymes and it is completed after a long period of aging, during which chimica-physical transformations occure.

The must used for the obtaining of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena comes from a crushing of trebbiano and local grapes, for example lambrusco. Before raw must begin to ferment, it is separated from marcs and it is sent to the pan over direct heat, where there is a slow concentration by evaporation open cup.
With the coking, a variable quantity of water evaporates and the microbial load initially present in the must devitalises so that it loses its natural tendency to turn into wine. After cooking the must, it results dark, tasty and perfumed, wuth high sugar content. After cooking and settling, the cooked must is placed in a series of barrels of decreasing size and of different woods (oak, chestnut, mulberry, cherry, juniper, etc.). The succession of individual casks is called "battery" (see figure 1), and it's placed in the houses' attics where it is subjected to the seasonal temperature variation.

A fixed rule for the number, capacity, sequence of the barrels and the quality of woods, doesn't exist: each manufacturer is free to form his own acetaia using barrels and woods according to his taste and to the amount of product to be obtained. Nevertheless the minimum number of the casks is a battery or a series of three: a big barrel where additions to the cooked must are made (and where the acetic fermentation takes place), an intermediate barrel where the fermented liquid is transferred for the maturation, and the third barrel, the smallest, where the matured liquid is poured to be aged.

The present tendency is to have a series of casks of different woods with decreasing size, starting from the largest barrel containing the product to reach the smallest barrel which contains the mature liquid. There is no strict rule to follow, but acetaias are usually formed by a series of five barrels of decreasing size about 20-30% from each other. For example, in a series of five barrels, if it is assumed that the largest is 60 liters, there will be a sliding scale formed by casks of 50-40-30 and 20 liters capacity. If we increase the size of the first barrel, we can obtain a series of eight containers scaled as followed: 75-60-50-40-30-24-16 and 10 liters capacity. As for the woods, the general orientation is to put barrels with soft and porous woods at the beginning, so as to favour the evaporation processes (for example oak and mulberry). The alternation of woods in the battery helps to characterize the product giving to it its typical flavours and aromas.

The microbiological activity which develops in the cooked must can be summarized in the fermentation caused yeast osmophilus (zygosaccharomyces naturally present in the must) in the barrel of acidification inside of which colonies of acetobacters create a simultaneous oxidation of alcohol into acetic acid. In time the product undergoes a series of profound changes on sugar, alcohols, aldehydes and organic acids contained in it, highlighted by a refinement of the bouquet of aromas and flavors that became more and more intense, delicate and pleasant.

The production follows the seasonal course: winter frost makes the balsam clear, the scorching summer heat concentrates sugars, acidity and flavor, the mild temperatures in fall and in spring allows microbiological activity. Annually, during the cold season, a certain quantity of product (an average 25 to 30% of the total) which is considered suitable for the marketing is taken from the smallest barrel of the series. The liquid in the smaller barrel is then restored to a level of about 2/3 of total with some liquids of the intermediate cask (this operation is called decanting). The intermediate barrel, in its turn, is restored to level with the largest barrel, ang keeping on backwards till the largest barrel, that is decanted with the cooked must of the year (operation called transfer). Typical battery production in which withdrawal operations (transfer and decanting) are highlighted.

The product begin to change: in the big barrels the typical characteristics are younger, instead in the small barrels microbiological activities are off, so that there is space for gradual aginf. As described before, the mature product is annually extracted, in winter, in decanting time, from the first barrel: if we consider that a productive series ha san average of seven barrels and that the first barrel of the series (the smallest) has a capacity of 10 liters, so it contains about 7,5 liters of product, each year of production a maximum of 2,5/3 liters can be withdrawn to not completely upset the production chain that is created with the decanting operations.
The ABTM is a product DOC designation or origin, and Reg (EC) 813/2000 has benn inserted in the protected designations of origin by the European Union (PDO), you can find it on the market in two age of aging: an ABTM product, aged at least 12 years, and an ABTM extravecchio, aged at least 25 years. The product is protected by the "Consortium of producers of traditional balsamic vi negar of Modena" and, onlu after passing a series of organoleptic tests by a committee of expert tasters, it is bottled in a bottle of 100 cc. single law for all producers (see figure 2). Each bottle is numbered and sealed, moreover for each bottled product the Consortium holds a sample to guarantee the quality of the corresponding batch of bottles.

The ABTM is placed in the italian agricoltural niche production: it is a unique high quality product and it is closely linked to the territory from which it originates. The possible extension of its market is restricted by the characteristics of quality and high costs, is therefore aimed at an audience who appreciate good wines, boutique attractions, restaurants and wine bars of high level; it is marketable al lover the world and it has the advantage that, once placed in glass, there are no problems of preservatiob or deterioration.