Acetaia and Imola

I use TripAdvisor frequently when we travel. It has become an invaluable resource to our trip planning because you can connect with so many people who are very knowlegable about the area you plan to travel.
On TripAdvisor, I had heard of many tours that take you to producers of the main three foods from Parma, including balsamic vinegar. But, once I contacted a tour company, I was quoted a gargantuan price and you had to provide your own transportation. So, I decided to dig into the travel forums a bit deeper. I found out that you can contact the Traditonal Balsamic Vinegar Consortium about setting up a tour with a producer. I did exactly this, and within one day, the consortium emailed me with a message that a producer would soon be in touch to set up a visit.
I received an email the following day to set up a tour with Davide and Cristina from Villa San Donnino. Davide was so kind and helpful, we set up a tour for Saturday the 11 of April. He offered us a free tour, or a paid tour which would take us not only to the acetaia, but also a tour of the Villa itself and a tasting of the vinegar with regional products.
It took us a little while to find the Villa, fortunately we had GPS. But once we found it, we found a beautiful Italian villa. Davide met us at the entrance. First, we toured the Villa.

The villa is beautiful, and gigantic! It was built in 1910 and purchased by Davide's grandfather some years later. Iin 1976, the villa was used in the filming of the Robert deNiro movie, 1900. The interior of the villa is incredible! There is an amazing art collection, and Davide showed us his collection of bronze animal figurines.

I cannot even begin to do justice to the villa. The ceilings were high, and the walls were decorated in frescoes. We were brought into the dining room, which was also used in the filming of the movie. The fireplace is decorated in an azure blue and gold mosaic tile, and is breathtaking. In the dining room, the fresco around the ceiling contains the crest of the original owner, Lieutenant San Donnino.

After touring the main floor of the villa, we were brought to the cellar, to the kitchen and smaller dining room. Davide and his wife, Cristina, brought us various local products to enjoy with the traditional balsamic vinegar. First of course, we were brought a Lambrusco produced by the family. We tried Parmigiano Reggiano cheese with Extravecchio Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (TBV), which is aged over 25 years, and homemade breadsticks. We then tried homemade ricotta cheese with balsamic vinegar jelly. As a finish, we had homemade vanilla ice cream with Nerone, which is a sweeter condiment. Everything was incredible , and I never knew balsamic vinegar could be so versatile.


After our bellies were full, Davide brought us to the acetaia, the building on the property where he produces TBV.
The process of making TBV is fascinating. It is a bit like wine-making. Davide uses a mixture of Trebbiano, a white grape, and Lambrusco, a red grape. The grape juice, or must, is boiled down and fermented by the addition of already fermented TBV. The must is fermented in barrels of varying size, beginning with the largest first. Every year the must is then moved into smaller barrels. The barrels are not completely closed, there is a hole in each, covered by a cloth, that allows for the air to enter and for the liquid to evaporate. Unlike wine, the barrels can only be used once, as the vinegar gives its flavor to the barrel, whereas wine takes its flavor from the barrel.
Davide explained that the best location for an acetaia is in the attic of a building. The cold in winter slows the process, and is the time when the vinegar is moved within the barrels. The heat from the summer fuels the fermentation process.
After 12 years, the vinegar is bottled and sold as Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Aceteio Balsamico Tradizionale. Some vinegar is allowed to ferment for 25 years, and then sold as Aceteio Balsamico Tradizionale Extravecchio.
The vinegar is heaven on earth, and is nothing at all like the Balsamic Vinegar from Modena that is sold in grocery stores. But then again, you probably wouldn's use TBV to douse a salad.

We spent the majority of the afternoon at the villa. It was such an incredible experience, an opportunity most people never have. Not only to enjoy the food, but to learn about such a delicate and traditional process. The afternoon will surely be something to remember for a long time.
We left Modena, and headed out to Bologna. Before we made it to Bologna, we made a brief detour in boy's heaven, Maranello to look at the Ferarri factory.


Joern was a bit disappointed to discover that the factory is only open to Ferarri owners, but it was still fun to drive around Ferarri town. We even found the test track, where they test not only street Ferarris, but also the Formula 1 cars. It was amazing to think of all the influential people in the racing world to drive on the track.

We then went to the Ferarri Galleria. They have a few Ferarris on display, including ones that were racing champions once.

From the Gallery, we headed out to Bologna, our stop for the next two nights.

Modena center

On Saturday morning, I was pretty sad to leave Parma, even though we had a full day ahead of us before we reached Bologna. I feel like Parma is really a place you could live. It is a manageable sized city, and I think it would be easy there to get to know people. I also found out later that there is an international school in Modena, which is right outside Parma. I'd be all set!
It turns out that outside of Parma, it is rather rural. In Germany, on the outskirts of a city, the suburbs tend to still be rather full. Yes, we have farmers who live in our town, but there is little room for anyone to have much land here. You have to go much farther outside the city to see the kind of land that people have outside Parma.

I had made reservations at a traditional acetaia, or vinegar producer, in Modena where balsamic vinegar originates. Since we were a bit early to go to acetaia, we decided to check out the center of Modena.
Modena is a very old city, and at one time, because of its location on the Via Aemilia, it was an extremely important city.
The city center is positively charming. We parked as close as possible to the center, and were immediately overshadowed by the Palazzo Ducale. The once palace now is home to the Modena Military Academy. Unfortunately, I couldn't caputre the size of the building in the picture, but it is really HUGE!

It was in this parking lot that we had our first real view that things have changed in Italy. Joern and I have been talking about the change in northern Italy we fist noticed last year when we visited Venice. We noticed the extreme number of new large German cars. On our many trips to Italy years ago, I always felt that we stuck out a bit. Joern always had his BMW 5 series, and somehow, it was larger than most cars, and well, German. Last year, we were like the lower end of the crowd. In the Parma area, which is very rich, we were like the little guy on the block. In Modena, we parked in front of a brand new Aston Martin, the third I had seen in 2 days. We saw more BMW X6s than I have ever seen in Germany. Not to base everything on cars, but it seems like the Euro has really brought a change to northern Italy, which they deserve because they are hard workers, and saw lots of their money go away in the past. It can be difficult in Germany to see the effect of the Euro, namely because the most it has done here is to raise prices.
We walked into the center of Modena to discover another charming, wonderful town. We wound our way through the cobbled streets to the Piazza Grande, which is bordered by the town hall and the cathedral.


I wish I could have accurately caputured the lean of the church. I have read in guidebooks about the leaning bell tower, which was covered for restoration, but the church has a crazy slant too! But, it is quite old, from the year 1000 and really quite beautiful from the outside.
Due to time constraints, and our pending appointment with the vinegar producer, we could not really go into the museums or cathedral, but have put it on our "to do when we return" list.
As we explored, there was an open doorway, these usually lead to courtyards. I took a peak inside:

I'm pretty sure it depicts a scene from a literary work, but not sure which one, this was a private courtyard and not public. Of course, it could also serve as a warning to those who enter the courtyard.
The synagogue was extremely beautiful on the outside. It was so large, and the marble columns were incredible.

We were happy with our "taste" of Modena. Of course there is much more there to see, but we had an appointment to keep, so it was time to go.