When we say Balsamic Vinegar, we immediately think of a product with a renowned history behind it.
So renowned as to be an ultra-millennial history, made up of peoples and traditions, handed down from family to family until today in the 2000s to us on our tables.
As fascinating as it is rich, this is the true story of balsamic vinegar of Modena.
The first traces of the existence of balsamic vinegar can be traced back to the Romans and to its ancestor, Saba. A thick and sweetish syrup with multiple uses, obtained by cooking and reducing grape must.
There were also numerous ancient writers who, in their works, included references to it, among these Virgil, Pliny the Elder and Ovid, we speak of 70-17 BC.
During the High Middle Ages, rumours spread about a “black gold”, characterised by such legendary qualities as to become the object of desire of a king: Henry II of Franconia.
It was none other than the Balsamic Vinegar, so precious as to be kept in small packages silver flasks.
The history of balsamic vinegar began to intertwine with that of the Este Dukes, who moved to the city of Modena. Francesco I d’Este, during the expansion works of the Palazzo Ducale, had the premises of the Torre del Prato prepared as a vinegar cellar.
The first document that associates the word “balsamic vinegar” with Modena vinegar is the Ducal Cellar Register of 1747.
The arrival of the Napoleonic troops in Modena in 1796 marked an epochal change forthe Balsamic Vinegar.
Its economic value was recognized by the French and the Ducale vinegar factory was sold at auction. Some rich bourgeois families took advantage of the situation by buying the noble barrels.
After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, the producers of ‘Balsamic Vinegar’ began to participate in the increasingly frequent International Exhibitions. One with particular importance was the International Exhibition in Paris in 1878.
The success led to a differentiation of the production processes and to the marketing of a sweet and sour and perfumed vinegar, more suitable for daily use.
