A Guide To Choosing The Best Balsamic Vinegar

How can you tell a good balsamic vinegar?

The Best IGP and DOP Balsamic Vinegar - Everything You Need to Know

Balsamic vinegar is something that in many ways is shrouded in mystery. It can be very valuable. It can be incredibly cheap. There's fear of fraud, partly because of that value. There can be snobbery as well. There can be confusion around the ingredients used - does it ever include sugar? Meanwhile, the labelling system of coins to denote different ages can be baffling to the uninitiated.

In this blog piece we’ll address some of those questions, and clarify everything you need to know about DOP and IGP balsamic vinegar. Just like extra virgin olive oil, once you know what to look fin different balsamic vinegar, you'll be able to create a salad dressing that friends and family will want the recipe for!

The information in this expert guide is taken from an exclusive live Masterclass with the balsamic masters Giusti. Who joined Sous Chef founder Nicola, along with a panel of Sous Chef customers to discuss what makes IGP balsamic vinegar so special.

What’s the difference between DOP and IGP Balsamic vinegar?

DOP stands for Denominazione d'Origine Protetta  - or Protected Designation of Origin. Balsamic vinegar DOP is the highest quality indication you can find. It is the European Union certification that guarantees your balsamic’s quality, production, and place of origin.

IPG balsamic vinegar also has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), or Indicazione Geografica Protetta. However the production criteria are broader. Balsamic vinegar di Modena IGP is the baseline for good quality balsamic vinegar.

What is DOP Balsamic Vinegar?

To qualify for DOP status, balsamic vinegar must:

• Every stage of production, including grape harvest must happen in Modena

• It must be made using Trebbiano or Lambrusco varieties of grape

• Trebbiano is white grape, and Lambrusco is dark grape. The distinct dark colour of balsamic comes from caramelising grape’s natural sugars - and is not related to the grape variety itself.

• The vinegar must include only cooked grape must (no colourants or caramels)

• Be aged in wooden barrels

• Have aged for a minimum of 12 years

What is IGP Balsamic Vinegar?

To hold IGP status, balsamic vinegar must:

• Be made from typical Modena grapes, but not exclusively Trebbiano and Lambrusco.

• The grapes must be processed in Modena, but can be grown anywhere else in the world.

• Contain at least 6% wine vinegar

• Be aged for at least two months in wooden barrels. There is no fermentation stage. 

How can you tell the age of your balsamic vinegar?

IGP and DOP balsamic vinegar isn't allowed to be labelled with its age. So different producers use crowns or coins to show the age of the vinegar. One coin might signify four years of ageing for example. And so if you see one or two coins. It might mean it's four or ten years old.

Meanwhile there is a colour convention when it comes to DOP Balsamic vinegar. 

• Red labels for balsamic that is 12 years old

• Silver labels for vinegar over 18 years old

• Gold labels for bottles over 25 years old

Eleanora Gratini of balsamic masters, Goiusti explains:

“The ‘ageing’ symbols are really more of an indication, because the process of making balsamic vinegar DOP is all about blending. It's about finding the perfect balance of flavours and textures, and that's reached by extracting and blending vinegar from many different  barrels. 

“And when you're extracting from a barrel into a bottle, you never empty the barrel completely. So you always have a base in there for the next blend. So it's often very difficult to say how old a balsamic vinegar is. Which is why we can say it's more of an indication.”

Balsamic Expert - How To Make World-Class Balsamic

My name is Eleonara Gratini, and I'm head of hospitality at Giusti in Modena. And I'm very excited to guide you through exactly what makes balsamic DOP vinegar so special.

Of course we're speaking about Aceto Balsamico di Modena, and here we are, based  in Emilia Romagna, in Modena. And we're going to see how important Modena is for the production of balsamic vinegar.  

How do we make our vinegar? I will explain each step:

1. Raw materials. When it comes to balsamic vinegar, there is only one ingredient - grapes. And these are local grapes of our area -  Trebiano and Lambrusco. 

2. Local Process. For our DOP Giusti balsamic, every step of the grape production process has to be done in Modena. 

3. The Grapes. We grow the grapes, we harvest the grapes, we crush the grapes and we filter the juice.

4. Cooking the grapes. We make the must, by cooking the juice in open vats made of copper. Always low temperatures, because we don't want to boil the juice of the grapes. We don't want to burn the sugars, but what we obtain is what we call mosto cotto: must. It’s also called Saba, and you can try the un-aged saba here. Saba, or must, is very sweet, and the colour is crucial - it's dark.

5. Ageing. We have 5 different barrels, and each barrel is made of a different timber. There's oak, there's juniper, there's chestnut, there's cherry, and mulberry. We start with a moment that we call ‘Year Zero’, where every barrel is filled with approximately 80% cooked grape must of the current year. 

6. Evaporation. We set arrows at the level of the must in each barrel. The first arrow is set when it is filled, at 80% capacity. Then we expect evaporation and concentration of the must. In two-three years you don’t have 80% any more. In the smallest barrel you'll have, thanks to the evaporation and concentration of the product, maybe 75% or 60%

7. Decanting & Blending. Each year, we take a little bit of product from the youngest barrel and blend it in the next. Then we take a little from that barrel and blend it with the next oldest. It’s called the Solera Method. It’s the same technique used for sherry. And this is why it’s hard to pinpoint years exactly on a bottle of balsamic. Because what we are doing is blending. It's all about blending. 

8. Labelling. Because we use the Solera method of blending, we cannot specify that an entire bottle of balsamic has been aged for that exact number of years. So when we say ‘minimum 25 years’ or ‘minimum 12 years’ what we're saying is that the balsamic vinegar has reached a texture, a complexity, viscosity equivalent to that number of years.

Why is balsamic important in Modena?

Eleonara Gratini from Giusti balsamic explains:

“Balsamic vinegar is not just a condiment that we put on the table and we put on salads. It's extremely important for Modena families, who still go harvest the grapes, crush the grapes and have their own batteria — their own set of barrels. 

We estimate that still today about 5,000 families have a little set of casks in their attics of their country house, of their homes. Most likely that batteria was started on the occasion of the birth of a boy or a girl of their family, or the arrival of grandchildren. 

And families grow up having their own set of barrels, their own batteria, and if you're lucky enough, you would receive a little bottle of their balsamic vinegar for a special occasion, whether it's a birthday or Christmas or christening, and so on, year after year.

Little bottles of balsamic vinegar are still used today for dowries.

When was balsamic vinegar first made?

Eleonara Gratini from Giusti balsamic explains:

“The Giusti family is considered the oldest producer of balsamic vinegar, and the date of establishment is 1605. We have a historic listing of all the commercial activities opened in 1605 in Modena, where we find the name of Francisco Giusti.   

The Giusti family were meat producers (one of the other specialties in this area is pork meat). We have the mortadella. We have cold cuts, salami, and so on. The Giusti family had this little shop where they used to produce yellow sausage. That was a very typical recipe centuries ago. 

And in the attic of the building is where they kept their collection of barrels - that was not called balsamic vinegar, but it was called the Black Gold or the ‘vinegar of Modena’. It was the type of vinegar that was obtained with must, which has evolved into modern-day balsamic vinegar.

The term ‘balsamic’ was introduced in the late 1700, and that word reflects ‘the balm’ of all this very special aroma that obtains after years and years and decades of ageing in barrels of wood.  

 What does DOP Balsamic Vinegar taste like?

Flavours you may find in balsamic vinegar DOP include

• Plums

• Dark Cherries

• Toasted caramel

• Toasted chocolate

• Dark almond

• Liquorice

• Toffee

• Hazelnuts

• Cocoa

• Sherry

How to taste Balsamic Vinegar DOP

The important thing when tasting balsamic vinegar is the way the volatile acidity reaches your palate. So move it from the tip of your tongue to the back.

Tasting notes for the Giusti signature range:

• 3 gold medals

This balsamic vinegar has a high viscosity. It's obtained with grape must of raisins, so it tends to be very, very sweet and creamy, and I would pair it with so many different things. 

It's so versatile, and makes a nice salad. Good with crunchy vegetables. So with celery, with crunchy carrots and fennel. Or a risotto, or even a dessert. The colour is very dark and shiny. And very creamy, and very well balanced.

•  4 gold medals

Another very interesting balsamic vinegar, very high in viscosity, perfect for cheese, for example, this is amazing. 

It’s delicious on a Caprese salad. It is still obtained with cooked grape must of raisins, aged mostly in chestnut wood, and has a very, very nice and toasted taste, with hints of licorice and almonds.

•  5 gold medals

Well, what to say about this? This really reconnects with the traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena, and is obtained through the same method.

Here we also have the aged vinegar, which is considered one of the most iconic of the Giusti family. This is perfect on so many different things. 

The ageing is about 20 years old. It’s a very persistent very well balanced flavour - great on a steak on fish, also to marinate some nice salmon.

How to use balsamic vinegar DOP

Eleonara Gratini from Giusti balsamic explains:

“We use it a lot with fruit on peaches is amazing, or on grilled apples. For example, instead of putting a squeeze of lemon, you just put a few drops of balsamic on. 

The uses are so different and so versatile, you can use them to marinate. You can use them in cocktails. For example, we are marinating tofu right now!”

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale)

One of the first rules of thumb when choosing a good bottle of balsamic vinegar is to check ‘Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale’ is printed on the label. True balsamic vinegar will either be branded with ‘Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena’ or ‘Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia’, from the two areas where the vinegar is made. This indicates that the contents have been produced using traditional methods.

High-quality balsamic vinegar can elevate not just salads but also a wide range of dishes, making it an essential ingredient for enhancing salad dressings and other culinary creations.

Italian law dictates that in order to be sold as Balsamico Tradizionale, it must be fermented for at least 12 years. And experts generally agree that the older the vintage, the better the flavour.

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale is normally made solely with Trebbiano or Lambrusco grapes which are grown in the Emilia-Romagna and Modena regions of Italy and have a naturally high sugar content. This area of the country experiences very hot summers and very cold winters which help provide the flavours that create the vinegar’s unique taste.

The PDO (or DOP in English) designation of “Affinato” vinegar shows that it is made according to the strictest traditional Modenese method of balsamic vinegar making. Unlike balsamics with IGP status, no wine vinegar is added while the vinegar matures – it is made purely from aged grape must. When choosing a good bottle of balsamic vinegar check if ‘Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale’ is printed on the label One of our favourites is Defrutum Balsamic Vinegar DOP “Extravecchio” – a 25 year old balsamic tradizionale, which has been dubbed the “Rolls-Royce of vinegar”, and has such an extraordinary flavour that it’s often enjoyed as a small digestif.

If you’re looking for tradition and a sustainable approach to production, the Giusti family has been producing Italy’s oldest balsamic vinegar since 1605, following a family recipe that’s remained the same since the start. The result is some of the best-loved balsamics, not only in Italy, but across the world.

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale is normally made solely with Trebbiano or Lambrusco grapes which are grown in the Emilia-Romagna and Modena regions of Italy and have a naturally high sugar content. This area of the country experiences very hot summers and very cold winters which help provide the flavours that create the vinegar’s unique taste.

The PDO (or DOP in English) designation of “Affinato” vinegar shows that it is made according to the strictest traditional Modenese method of balsamic vinegar making. Unlike balsamics with IGP status, no wine vinegar is added while the vinegar matures – it is made purely from aged grape must.

When choosing a good bottle of balsamic vinegar check if ‘Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale’ is printed on the label

One of our favourites is Defrutum Balsamic Vinegar DOP “Extravecchio" – a 25 year old balsamic tradizionale, which has been dubbed the “Rolls-Royce of vinegar”, and has such an extraordinary flavour that it’s often enjoyed as a small digestif.

If you're looking for tradition and a sustainable approach to production, the Giusti family has been producing Italy’s oldest balsamic vinegar since 1605, following a family recipe that’s remained the same since the start. The result is some of the best-loved balsamics, not only in Italy, but across the world.

What is the process of making balsamic vinegar?

The production of balsamic vinegar involves the grapes, seeds, skin and stems being boiled down to around a third of their original volume. This creates a product called ‘must', and is transferred to wooden barrels to age. The vinegar will reduce in volume by 10% each year through evaporation and will be stored in smaller and smaller barrels. The more aged, the more concentrated the flavour becomes. Older vinegar tend to increase in price, but with this comes greater depths and complexity on the palate.

Bottle shape and seal

Traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is sold in bulbous-shaped bottles designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Italian car designer. Those from Reggio Emilia will have an inverted tulip shape. You'll also notice that the consortium seal is on the cap as well as the label.

What are the ingredients in balsamic vinegar?

Good quality balsamic vinegar will have its ingredients listed as “Grape must, tradizionale’. This means that it has been aged for at least 12 years, and the vinegar will thick and sweet. A good quality balsamic vinegar can be used to make a delicious balsamic vinaigrette, which is a quick and tasty homemade dressing that enhances various dishes. Cheaper vinegar will be combined with a wine vinegar, caramel, flavourings and other ingredients. These are fine for vinaigrettes or glazing but will lack the depth and complexity of a Balsamico Tradizionale.

Older vinegar tend to increase in price, but with this comes greater depths and complexity on the palate.

Bottle shape and seal

Traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is sold in bulbous-shaped bottles designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Italian car designer. Those from Reggio Emilia will have an inverted tulip shape. You’ll also notice that the consortium seal is on the cap as well as the label.

What are the ingredients in balsamic vinegar?

Good quality balsamic vinegar will have its ingredients listed as “Grape must, tradizionale’. This means that it has been aged for at least 12 years, and the vinegar will thick and sweet. Cheaper vinegar will be combined with a wine vinegar, caramel, flavourings and other ingredients. These are fine for vinaigrettes or glazing but will lack the depth and complexity of a Balsamico Tradizionale.

Older vinegar tend to increase in price, but with this comes greater depths and complexity on the palate.

DOP and IGP

Two labels to be mindful of when picking your balsamic vinegar are DOP (Denominazione d’Origine Protetta) and IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta).

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, like Parmigiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma, is one such product that carries a DOP seal. This ensures not only that the vinegar is made in the region but also that the manufacturers follow specific techniques to create the end product. Every part of the process must be carried out within the region of Modena and is subject to rigorous testing from inspectors.

IGP is less strict, but will mean that the vinegar has protected geographical information, and the production or processing takes place in the region of Modena. In order to keep up with the demand in balsamic, derivative methods were set up, and included using grapes from outside the Modena region. IGP vinegars can also contain additional ingredients like wine vinegar, thickeners and caramel to make up for the absence of ageing.

While a DOP stamp denotes the top rank of balsamics, there is still plenty of good vinegar that carry the IGP seal or no seal at all…

Why doesn't my DOP or IGP balsamic vinegar show how old it is on the bottle?

That is a great question! The guidelines from the regional certification body forbids the bottles being labelled with the age of the vinegar. However, balsamic producers still need to be able to indicate to consumers the age - and therefore the likely flavour and price point - of the bottle.

They get round this in two different ways:

IGP balsamic vinegar: producers often add pictures of gold medals to the labels to represent the vinegar's age. This is where it can get confusing! For some producers a medal will be 3 years, and others it is 4 years. A 5-gold medal vinegar could be 15 years old or 20 years old. On a Giuseppe Giusti bottle, one medal is 4 years. 

DOP balsamic vinegar: this is slightly simpler. Often you'll see "vecchio" on the label, or "extra vecchio". Vecchio is usually 12 years, and extra vecchio 25 years.

Cheaper Types of Balsamic Vinegar

While we love high-quality balsamic vinegar, and regard it as a culinary essential ingredient, its cost means that it is normally used sparingly.

Italians will bring out a bottle of Tradizionale on special occasions, just like a bottle of Champagne. There are cheaper versions of balsamic vinegar, which are perfect for more everyday occasions when you just want the flavour of balsamic to highlight a dish. Even cheaper balsamic vinegars can be used to make a flavourful salad dressing, enhancing the taste of your salads and various dishes.

This bottle of 4 year aged balsamic from Defrutum contains the grape must and wine vinegar and is a brilliant example of a great quality balsamic which is affordably priced and perfect for regular use.

Can I use balsamic vinegar to replace apple cider vinegar? 

It really depends what you're using it in!

If you want to dress a salad, then balsamic vinegar is a fantastic alternative to apple cider vinegar. It brings extra dimensions of both sweetness and flavour. 

Apple cider vinegar is widely used for its health benefits: helping to regulate polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as well as regulate blood sugar, and hence diabetes. Yet, these medical studies refer to the benefits acetic acid in the vinegar, rather than specifically the apple cider. If you're keen to enjoy the health benefits of acetic acid, then rest assured that balsamic vinegar - along with all other vinegars - contain acetic acid.

Other people use apple cider vinegar to kickstart home vinegar making, as it sometimes is sold with 'the mother' - a live gelatinous disc of cellulose and bacteria which forms during vinegar making, and helps start the new vinegar-making process. Most balsamic vinegar is filtered and so doesn't contain the mother - therefore you should stick to live apple cider vinegar with mother for your home vinegar making. Plus it's probably cheaper too!

What is the best balsamic vinegar for salads?

There are two ways to dress salads with balsamic vinegar. Either you can go Italian-style and place separate bottles of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the table for everyone to dress their own leaves with a little dash of each. Or you can pre-mix an olive oil and vinegar dressing in the kitchen, perhaps even adding a little mustard, seasonings and herbs.

Balsamic vinegar can also be deliciously drizzled over fresh strawberries to enhance their flavour, showcasing its versatility in various dishes.

For serving at the table, it’s good to use a balsamic with a little body and perhaps lighter acidity, for example an 8 year old IGP Balsamic vinegar, or even – if you’re feeling luxurious – this 16 year old IGP balsamic vinegar. Stick to the eight year old if you are keen to retain a good amount of acidity.

Balsamic Vinegar Uses

Its versatility in the kitchen is one of the reasons balsamic vinegar is so popular. Be bold and try it in the following:

• Meats - Add to a beef broth or used as a glaze on pork, lamb and beef. A balsamic vinegar marinade is a great way to tenderise meat too.

• Fish - Glaze and bake fish fillets with balsamic vinegar and eat with fresh greens.

• Fruit - A little Pomegranate Flavoured White Balsamic Condiment poured onto a fruit salad, brings the flavours alive. Goes particularly well with strawberries and stone fruits, especially cherries.

• Desserts - Italians often upgrade a simple pannacotta with a good balsamico tradizionale on special occasions. It’s well worth a try with a good quality vinegar. These Balsamic Pearls are also great with ice cream.

• Balsamic Vinaigrette - Make a quick and tasty homemade balsamic vinaigrette to enhance the flavour of salads, roasted vegetables, and even grilled meats. Its bold, sweet, and tangy profile can elevate any dish.

Shop our wide range of balsamic vinegars here. Or try cooking our recipe for roast vegetable and grain salad with preserved lemon and balsamic vinegar dressing. 

Main photo by Margherita Turrin on Unsplash