Aged Balsamic Vinegar: DOP, IGP and How to Use It

True aged balsamic vinegar is not a salad dressing. It is grape must cooked down and left to age for twelve years or more in a series of wooden barrels until it is thick, glossy and sweet-sour, and it is used by the drop. Most bottles labeled balsamic are something else: younger vinegars that are excellent in their own way and cost a fraction as much. Here is how to tell them apart, what the labels mean, and how to use each.

The three kinds of balsamic

On the label	How it is made	Use it for
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP (or di Reggio Emilia DOP)	Only cooked grape must, aged at least 12 years in a series of barrels of different woods. “Extra Vecchio” means at least 25 years.	Drops on Parmigiano, strawberries, risotto, ice cream
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP	Cooked grape must and wine vinegar, made in Modena or Reggio Emilia and aged in wood for at least 60 days. “Invecchiato” means aged at least three years.	Dressings, roasted vegetables, glazes, everyday finishing
Condimento balsamico	No legal definition, so quality ranges from excellent to ordinary.	Read the ingredients: grape must should come first

What “aged” means

A traditional balsamic matures in a batteria, a row of barrels of decreasing size, often in different woods such as oak, chestnut, cherry, mulberry and juniper. Each year a little vinegar is drawn from the smallest barrel, which is topped up from the next one along, and so on down the line, while the vinegar slowly evaporates and concentrates. That is why a twelve-year traditional balsamic tastes nothing like a young one: denser, rounder and far less sharp, with notes of cooked fruit and wood.

How to use aged balsamic

• On Parmigiano Reggiano. A drop on a chunk of aged cheese is the classic welcome in Modena.
• On fruit. Strawberries, peaches and figs, with a turn of black pepper.
• On ice cream. A few drops over vanilla gelato.
• On risotto and eggs. Just before serving, off the heat.
• On grilled meat. A thread over sliced steak or roast pork.

Never cook a traditional balsamic; heat flattens what took years to build. For cooking, glazes and dressings, a good IGP is the right bottle. Try it in our balsamic-braised short ribs with rosemary.

The balsamics we carry

• Le Marké organic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP sits at the dense end of the IGP range, organic, at 6% acidity: thick enough to cling to a strawberry and sharp enough to dress a salad. It is the everyday bottle, and it comes in The French Pantry gift set with fleur de sel and olive oil.
• Château d’Estoublon’s Duo Couture puts extra virgin olive oil and organic balsamic vinegar in two perfume-style spray bottles, for a fine mist over salads and burrata.
• Mantova’s Italian dressing spray combines extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar of Modena in one bag-in-bottle spray, for dressing delicate leaves lightly.
• Giusti Expo’s Hommage is the collector’s piece. The Giusti family has made balsamic vinegar in Modena since 1605, and this limited edition presents three reserves, Gold, Silver and Bronze, drawn from the oldest barrels in the family’s historic ageing rooms, some dating from the 1700s. They come in a leather case with the traditional tasting tools: a flask, a pipette, a candle and a spoon. Read why we chose it.

How to taste balsamic

Pour a few drops onto a white spoon. Watch how slowly they move, then taste. A good aged balsamic coats the spoon, smells of cooked fruit and wood, and finishes long, sweet and gently acidic rather than sharp. A young vinegar runs freely and bites.

How to store balsamic

Keep it capped, away from heat and light. There is no need to refrigerate it, and it does not spoil; a little sediment in an older bottle is natural.

Questions

What is the difference between DOP and IGP balsamic? DOP traditional balsamic is made only from cooked grape must and aged at least 12 years. IGP Balsamic Vinegar of Modena adds wine vinegar and is aged at least 60 days.

Is aged balsamic worth it? For finishing, yes: a few drops change a piece of cheese, a bowl of fruit or a risotto, and a bottle lasts a long time. For dressings and cooking, a good IGP is the better buy.

Does balsamic vinegar go bad? No. Sealed and kept away from heat, it keeps indefinitely.

Why does traditional balsamic come in such small bottles? Because it is used by the drop, and because the DOP consortia bottle it in their own 100 ml bottles.

For more from the Italian and French pantry, see our olive oil gift sets and infused olive oils and vinegars.