Olive Oil is not Just Olive Oil recipe.kaiser-permanente.org
So, with olive oils, the fresher the better. It’s the inverse with balsamic vinegar. The older the vinegar the better. Real balsamico is made from vinegar and crushed grape must (the leftovers from the crush). Fake balsamico is made from vinegar and caramel. Anything from Modena in Italy is real.
Clearly, it’s more expensive to use more local and real products. But you can use much less of it for incredible flavor, making it a better value.