Not Bitter, Sweet

When I arrived in Modena, I immediately went to the tourist office and arranged a tour for the four of us at an acetaia, vinegar factory, south of Modena, in the heart of balsamic vinegar country, to see how the stuff is made.

The day was very hot, almost oppressive. It was nice to wend our way through the countryside. Well, we ended up doing a lot of wending as I got lost and drove in circles until we finally found the little town of San Vito. I did get a lot of practice using roundabouts. We seemed to be driving through a village residential area when we found the sign for the factory, Caselli.

It turns out the ‘factory’ was the size of a modest house behind a family homestead. We were met at the gate by a very amiable gentleman, Simone, who was able to speak English well enough to explain everything. He, his parents and wife operate the business that his grandfather founded in the 1920s. The first thing you are hit with as you approach the door to the factory is the sweet smell of the vinegar that pervades everything. It is a rich, deep complex smell that matches the very complex way it is manufactured. It actually is less about complication as it is about time. Simone makes two kinds of product that can receive the tightly controlled designation of Aceto Balsamico di Modena: 12 year old and 25 year old. They both start with Trebbiano grapes grown by Simone’s family that are crushed and the resulting juice, or must, is boiled for 24 hours until about half the water is evaporated. The liquid is then stored in a barrel for a year, then transferred to another smaller, barrel; after another year to another, etc. This goes on for 12 or 25 years.

The barrels are made of nine different woods which impart different complex characteristics to the vinegar. The barrels themselves are reuseable, and they actually have great importance in the history of vinegar production. A ‘line’ of barrels traditionally would be built on the birth of a daughter to be used as a dowry and it is of much pride for families such as Simones to have several active lines.

Simone produces about 2500 small bottles of the vinegar, all carefully monitored by the government for quality. The small production guarantees that the stuff is expensive. But the mass produced stuff does not hold up to the traditional vinegar.

The tour ended with tasting the varieties and Simone explained what you should look for in the taste. I have a newfound appreciation for balsamic vinegar- the truly fine authentic stuff is sweeter and more delicious that the best chocolate by far- this defines the whole idea of slow food.

And I bought a few bottles of the 25 year old stuff to prove it to the folks back home.