Vinegar & Balsamic Vinegar

Petra Vinegars are made to maximise enjoyment through distinctive and delicious flavours, and to maximise health. Like yogurt, vinegar has been used for thousands of years to balance bacteria in our digestive systems. The fermentation process used to make vinegar produces good bacteria needed by our gut.

Vinegar is a fermentation of alcohol into acetic acid, typically from wine but also from beer or cider. Red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar are made in this way.

Balsamic Vinegar is made differently. Balsamic vinegar is made from the juice of grape pressings (the ‘must’), aged under rigid restrictions. To make Balsamic Vinegar using the traditional Solera process, a succession of barrels are filled with cooked grape ‘must’ over a series of equal aging intervals (usually a year). One container is filled for each interval.

After the last container is filled, the oldest container in the solera is tapped for part of its content, which is bottled. Then that container is refilled from the next oldest container, and that one in succession from the second-oldest, down to the youngest container, which is refilled with new product.

This procedure is repeated at the end of each aging interval. The transferred product mixes with the older product in the next barrel. The result of this aging process is a delicious, sweet, thick and rich Balsamic glaze with unique and complex character.