Aceto Balsamico di Modena

Romano Boni is a young guy with a wife and tiny children who has followed in his family business creating artisanal balsamic vinegar. He even uses the same wood casks that his great, great-grandfather used to make the vinegar beginning in the 1870s.

Each year a "set" of barrels are started and filled with boiled juice from Trebbiano grapes. They age for a minimum of 12 years. After the 12 years, the tiniest barrel is half drained and the resulting liquid is the balsamic vinegar. Then, the second smallest barrel is used to refill the tiny one, the third largest barrel used to refill the second, etc. The largest barrel in the set gets filled with the new year's juice. Most sets have seven barrels, made of many different woods--oak, chestnut, apple, and other local types--each imparting their own flavor to the grape juice over the years. Each barrel has an opening that is covered only by a linen cloth so evaporation and concentration of the juices can occur. Some of the cloths are charmingly embroidered.

It's a very old fashioned process done by a very young artisan.

At the end of the tour we tried the 12 year and 25 year old vinegars on parmigiano cheese, on the fresh ricotta (bought at the last stop) and on vanilla gelato, which was excellent!