Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
Encyclopedia
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (or Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale) a type of balsamic vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Balsamic vinegar is a condiment originating from Italy.The original traditional product , made from a reduction of cooked white Trebbiano grape juice and not a vinegar in the usual sense, has been made in Modena and Reggio Emilia since the Middle Ages: the production of the balsamic vinegar is...

 produced in Emilia Romagna region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Unlike "Balsamic Vinegar of Modena" (BVM), Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (TBV) is produced from cooked grape must, aged at least 12 years, and is protected under the European Protected Designation of Origin
Protected designation of origin
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 (PDO) system. (BVM has lesser protection under the European Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) system.) Although the names are similar, TBV and BVM are very distinct products both in their composition and manufacture.

Historical note

It seems that a deep comprehensive study about the original making procedure, the aging conditions as well as the sensory profile is not available so that the reconstruction of the true history of the TBV is yet a challenge due to the few and often confusing documents.
The first generally accepted document referring to a precious vinegar produced in the area of Modena and Reggio Emilia is the poem written in the 12th century by the monk Donizo of Canossa although the word "balsamic" is never mentioned. The first testimonies clearly speaking about "balsamic vinegar" as well as of recipes and making procedure appear from the 19th century even if little is known about the original recipes and related making practices. The adjective "balsamic" has been used to designate any kind of generically aromatic vinegar and products not just obtained from the fermentation of grape must alone. As far as the aging method is concerned, it is very similar to the Solera
Solera
Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. A solera is literally the set of barrels or other...

 system used in Spain after Napoleonic Wars spreading abroad after the second half of the 19th century.

Legal aspects

TBV is produced in two different geographical areas of the Emilia Romagna Region so that two different designations were granted by the European Council, i.e. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (TBVM) and Traditional Balsamico Vinegar of Reggio Emilia (TBVRE).
The two special vinegars are very similar products as the overall making procedure is the same; but, under a legal point of view, they are obtained according to specific and official production regulations defining (1) the basis of the vineyards ampelographic; (2) geographical area of production; (3) characteristics of starting materials; (4) making procedure; (5) the chemical, physical and sensorial requirements for sale; (6) bottling, labelling and presentation. The sensory profile of TBV is evaluated by hedonic
judgment expressed through a numeric score. The sensory score achieved is used to rank TBV in different commercial classes. The specific regulations allow adding "Extra Vecchio" to the official designation when the product is aged for 25 years at least. However, under existing regulations, neither the definition of "aging" nor the methods for its objective evaluation are specified; it is evaluated only through panel-tasting tests, whose effectiveness for this purpose is clearly inadequate. TBV results as a blend of vinegars of different composition and age due to the traditional making procedure. Actually, an easy-to-use mathematical method for evaluating the actual residence time of TBV within each cask of the barrel set has been recently published. This method is an adequate tool helping aging certification. An easy-to-use spreadsheet of the theoretical model is available for download here. At present, however, independent agencies that officially state TBV authenticity of both the TBVM and TBVRE haven't adopted it or any analogous procedure as a evaluation system.

Basic Technology

Making process of the TBV starts from freshly sqeezed grape juice and finishes with sensorial evaluation of the aged vinegar. Under a technologcal perspective, basic steps are required including cooking of the grape must, alcoholic fermentation by yeasts, acetic oxidation by acetic acid bacteria and slow aging within a barrel set.

Cooking of the grape must

Cooking of the grape juice is carried out in open vessels directly heated by fire for 12 – 24 hours reducing the volume of about 50%. The production regulations require to start from a grape must with 15°Bx at least to reach at the end of cooking 30°Bx for TBVRE; for TBVM the lower limit is not specified. It is possible to find cooked musts with sugar concentration beyond 50°Bx. The operation allows profound chemical and physical modifications affecting the end quality of TBV. Cooking stops all enzymatic browning reactions that rapidly occur inside fresh grape musts by polyphenol oxidase and progressively promotes grape must discoloration due to the heat-induced deactivation of proteins including browning enzymes. In addition, cooking promotes non-enzymatic browning chemical reactions involving sugar conversion, formation of high molecular weight melanoidins and furanic compounds such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Water vaporization induces the concentration of sugars, organic acids, polyphenols, concentration resulting in the increase of density, viscosity, refractive index (Brix degree), and conversely the lowering of water activity, pH value.

Alcoholic fermentation

Sugar fermentation and ethanol oxidation occur as a two-step biological transformation of the cooked must. The first requires anaerobic conditions and the second aerobic conditions. The two biological conversions occur inside a dedicated vessel, called the "badessa".
The alcoholic fermentation is carried out by yeasts belonging to a plethora of species and genera. In the past there was the idea of a commensalistic interaction between yeasts and acetic acid
Acetic acid
Acetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH3CO2H . It is a colourless liquid that when undiluted is also called glacial acetic acid. Acetic acid is the main component of vinegar , and has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell...

 bacteria but recently the scalar fermentation has been suggested.
It is widely accepted that the alcoholic fermentation affects the end quality of TBV due to the several yeasts metabolisms involved.

Acetic bioxidation

In TBV, the oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid in fermented cooked must is carried out by indigenous acetic acid bacteria naturally occurred in the environment. However, the application of selected acetic acid bacteria strains in TBV production has been recently proposed, and a procedure has been developed for the scale-up of the fermentation process at the vinegar factory scale. Bacteria involved in alcoholic dehydrogenation produce a wide range of compounds other than acetic acid, such as sugar acids and many volatile compounds. So the chemical composition of TBV, relating to the AAB oxidation products, is highly variable and depends on several factors such as the type of grape must, cooking modality, oxidation temperature, and others. The acetification process and the growth of relevant bacteria is mainly affected by the alcohol, sugar and acetic acid content.

Aging

The aging is related to two basic concepts. The first concerns the time that vinegar spends inside the barrel set (Age or Residence Time, RT); the second accounts for all time-dependent changes in chemical, physical and sensorial properties (Physical Ripening Time, PRT).

The barrel set

The barrel set is a series of five wooden casks at least that are arranged according to a decreasing size scale, where the product undergoes profound changes over the time. Casks may be of different wood types, i.e. oak, mulberry, ash, chestnut, cherry, juniper, and acacia and the smallest cask volume ranges from 15 to 25 liters. Each cask has an hole on the top, the so-called cocchiume, facilitating the usual inspection and mantainance activities. The barrel set behaves essentially as a device for vinegar concentration due to the water loss through the staves. As widely known for the wine production, it is reasonable to suppose that the wood acts as a semi-permeable filter for the transfer of small molecules towards the ambient while it retains important volatile compounds such as the acetic acid. However, when the opening is not hermetically closed, the volatile compounds are lost preferentially through the cocchiume itself.

Refilling procedure (Rincalzo)

The making procedure of TBV is a semi-continuous process requiring the annual refilling activity, consisting of withdrawing only a part of the vinegar from the smallest cask and topping it with the vinegar coming from the next cask along with the barrel set, and so on. The biggest cask receives new cooked and acetified must. This refilling procedure resembles the Solera method used for making Sherry wine.
The purpose of refilling in the TBV making is to keep the vinegar volume constant inside every casks in the barrel set, compensate the volume drop caused by the following three factors: TBV withdrawn for bottling, water evaporation, and possible vinegar leakages from the staves.
Refilling procedure involves the product flux-splitting from the biggest to the smallest cask, leading to the solute dislocation along the barrel set.

Age and Yield

Each cask of a barrel set contains a blend of vinegars with different composition and age due to the refilling procedure. As a consequence, the mean age of vinegar can be calculated as the weighted residence time of the different aliquots of vinegars introduced throughout years. A theoretical model has been recently developed able to estimate the mean age of TBV requiring refilling, withdrawn and casks volumes as input data. The refilling procedure imposes a upper limit for the residence time of the vinegar inside the barrel set.
The yield of a barrel set used for TBV production is easy to calculate by the ratio between the amount of TBV withdrawn (mTBV) and the amount of cooked must (mREFILLING) used to refill the biggest cask:


Yield indicates the ability of a barrel set to concentrate cooked must at given operating conditions being dependent on the rate of water loss by evaporation. Low yields are due both to relatively low withdrawn and high water evaporation rates. The latter is the major factor lowering the TBV yield. The bigger is the evaporation rate, the higher is the flux of material through the barrel set and the lower is the residence time. As a consequence, when the yield is low the vinegar age might be relatively low as a function of the amount of cooked must used to refill.
Applying the spreadsheet of the theoretical model to a barrel set as in figure, the residence time obtained as a function of withdrawn quantity and evaporation rate is plotted in the concerning graph.

Chemical composition

TBV composition
Major compounds Mean (g/Kg) SD
Soluble solids 739 (73.9°Bx) ±10.5
Glucose 230.60 ±30.45
Fructose 210.14 ±30.37
Tartaric acid 7.8 ±2.5
Succinic acid 5.0 ±7.0
Acetic acid 18.8 ±4.5
Malic acid 10.4 ±3.2
Gluconic acid 18.7 ±12.7
Lactic acid 1.2 ±0.7
Volatile compounds Median (mg/kg) SD
Alcohols 18.4 -
Aldehydes 1.94 -
Acids 15.4 -
Acetates 2.61 -
Esters 0.71 -
Enolic derivatives 1.36 -
Furanic compounds 1773 -
Ketones 0.77 -
Lactones 4.5 -
Phenols 105 -
Terpenes 10.01 -
Antioxidant molecules Mean (mg/kg) SD
Phenolic acid
Phenolic acid
Phenolic acids are a type of organic compounds. Included in that class are substances containing a phenolic ring and an organic carboxylic acid function ....

s
606.0 7.9
Flavanols 304.2 13.0
Flavonols 241.4 14.9
Tannins 349.0 19.5
Major compound data from
Volatile compounds data from


The composition of TBV is very complex and not yet fully described. The classes of the major components are the sugars (mainly glucose and fructose) and organic acids (mainly acetic, gluconic, malic, tartaric, succinic acids). The classes of the minor compounds refer to volatile compounds and antioxidant molecules mainly polyphenols. An important class of minor compounds, recently investigated, is that known as melanoidins, an heterogeneous mixture of polymers arising from sugar degradation reactions activated during cooking of the grape must. These polymers contribute to many physical properties of TBV including colligative ones, the refractive index, density, specific heat capacity melt, and rheological properties.

Physical properties

The most relevant physical properties of the TBV are:
  • pH - usually lower than 3, it is a measure of the extent of carboxylic acids dissociation.
  • Density - at 20 °C it cannot be lower than 1.24 g/mL (TBVM) and 1.20 g/mL (TBVRE); it is a measure of the extent of the solute concentration as well as of water evaporation.
  • Refractive index - it is usually expressed with Brix scale and reach on average 73°Bx
  • Color - It ranges from yellow/brown to brown/black during aging because of the accumulation of compounds, mainly melanoidins, from non-enzymatic reactions such as acidic-catalyzed sugar degradation and Maillard reactions.
  • Viscosity - Its value is on average around 0.56Pa⋅s and determines the TBV fluency as visually assessed according to procedures in use to assign sensorial judgements.
  • Flow index - It indicates the deviation of the flowing properties from the linearity (Newtonian behavior).

TBV compared to BVM and other balsamic products

Under a legal point of view, TBV is categorized as food condiment, while BVM is a wine vinegar. BVM can be produced without an ageing period; whereas, TBV gains its peculiar features during a long aging period that is fixed by law at no less than 12 years. TBV is the only condiment in the world produced starting from cooked grape musts without the adding of other substances; whereas, BVM is a blend of concentrated grape musts, wine vinegars and caramel
Caramel
Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, and as a topping for ice cream, custard and coffee....

.
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Other balsamic condiments
PRODUCTION
Starting materials Cooked must from grapes harvested in Modena or Reggio Emilia provinces of permitted vine cultivars Concentrated and sulphitated grape musts, wine vinegar and caramel (max 2% w/w) - the basis of vineyards ampelographic is imposed by law but the permitted vines can grow outside the Modena province Depending on recipes they may contain concentrated must but thickeners such as modified or native starch, glucose/fructose syrup, pectins, guar gum, xanthan, carob seed, etc. are always added)
Making procedure Alcoholic fermentation of sugars, acetic oxidation, aging period inside a set of wooden casks, refilling procedure throughout the years, annual withdrawn and bottling. The overall procedure is carried out at small scale Mix of the starting materials, facultative maturation in a single barrel and bottling. The overall procedure is carried out at industrial scale Mix of the starting materials and packaging. The procedure is carried out at industrial scale
Legal aging The residence time of the product inside the set of barrels is ruled out by the refilling and withdrawing procedure. The minimum aging time is no less than 12 years. The minimum aging time is no less than 60 days. No minimum limit for aging.
PRESENTATION
Bottling The product is sealed inside the patented 100mL glass bottle The product is sealed inside various kind of bottles (minimum 250mL of capacity) or single-dose plastic packages (max 25mL) The product is sealed inside various kind of packages of different capacity
Pricing Ranging between 40 to 250 euros Ranging between 2 to 40 euros Ranging between 2 to 350 euros
CHARACTERISTICS
Minimum density TBVM 1.24g/mL - TBVRE 1.20g/mL. The relatively high density is the results of the water evaporation during the long aging period 1.06g/mL. Higher density values depend on the degree of grape must concentration Not required. Higher density values are possible as a function of recipes
Minimum of total acidity TBVM 4.5g/100g - TBVRE 5g/100g of acetic acid equivalent. The acetic acid is biologically produced in the early stages of making procedure, then it concentrates during aging 6g/100g of acetic acid equivalent. The acetic acid comes from the starting ingredients Not required
Color Dark brown, limpid and bright. Color is determined by non-enzymatic browning reaction of sugars (NEB) starting on grape must cooking stage and progressing during aging Dark brown, limpid and bright. Brown color is enhanced by added caramel (E150d) Dark brown, limpid and bright. Brown color is enhanced by added caramel (E150d)
Viscosity The flowing properties are determined by the specific gravity and on the amount of high molecular weight melanoidins, an heterogeneous class of biopolymers that form and accumulate during the ageing process Viscosity is lower than TBV ones and it is although it is enhanced by adding caramel. The flowing properties are very similar to the TBV ones but they originate from the adding of thickeners
Sensorial evaluation It is a pre-requisite for their commercialization. Sensorial panel are long-time trained judges but sensorial procedures are not standardized often leading to irreproducible scores Not required Not required

External links

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