The Food: Vinegar

Vinegar, as many people may know, is sour wine and/or wine that has not made the final process.  You can find vinegar made from white grapes, red grapes, apples, and of course, Balsamic Vinegar from Moderna.

Red Wine Vinegar

White Wine Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar

Champagne Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar  
Authentic balsamic vinegar only comes from a city in the northern region of Emilia Romano in Italy called Modena. California and other regions have tried to imitate balsamic vinegar, but what you get most of the time is an inferior factory-made product that are not as sweet and colored with caramel coloring (the same stuff they put in cola and other soft drinks) to achieve the real dark brown color that balsamic vinegar gets from being aged in wooden barrels.

Real baslamic vinegar uses pressed trebbiano grapes, the juices are then reduced by 50% and aged in a barrell for for at least 12 years.  Authentic balsamic vinegar is not cheap however.  You can pay anywhere from $20 to well over $100 for a 7ounce bottle.  Why would it be $100?  Because it is aged for a hundred years or more. Often it is blended with other vintages of balsamic vinegar, but a large part of the price is because it is cataloged and certified authentic by the government.  Neccessary? Not really, but there is a slight difference in taste.  Start with balsamic vinegars you find in the supermarket which are from Modena, Italy.  $5-10 is not cheap for a bottle of vinegar, but try it out, and work your way up to the expensive stuff.  As you go up the scale, you will find that the better the balsamic, the thicker and sweeter it is.  In Italy, it is even served as an after dinner drink like a fine cognac, brandy or port wine, as a digestive.

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