The products that represent the food and wine excellences of our country are not only good: they tell stories, they hide secrets, they pass on know how to do. THE'balsamic vinegar, for example, otherwise called theBlack Gold of Modena, whose first traces date back toRoman age and that still today comes to life in the barrels jealously preserved in the attics of the Modenese houses, with a heritage and a recipe transmitted from generation to generation.

The oldest vinegar in the world

What a charm acetaie: rows of ancient barrels, arranged in increasing order from the smallest to the largest, corked with a doily held in place by a stone or with a piece of jute, to let the vinegar breathe, but do not let the insects enter. The oldest he boasts to own it Giusti family which more than 400 years ago started the first barrels of batteries in the attics of the Via Farini house in Modena. At the helm of the Gran Deposito Balsamic Vinegar of Giuseppe Giusti, founded in 1605, they have succeeded over the centuries 17 generations, the last represented by Claudio Stefani Giusti, born in '73, who left a successful career as a manager in the consulting sector to collect the legacy of his ancestors and transport the company to a young and international dimension.

Good grapes, fine barrels and (a lot) of time: this is how the perfect balsamic vinegar is born

The rules for obtaining a "perfect" Balsamic vinegar? He wrote them in 1863 Giuseppe Giusti in occasion of the Modena Agricultural Exposition: choice of grapes, quality of the barrels and, fundamental, time. The more ancient the cask, the more intense the aromas and the character transmitted to the balsamic vinegar: for this reason the 600 historic barrels from the 1700s and 1800s still active are the heart of Acetaia Giusti: it is from here begins the long journey of aging balsamic vinegar.

The museum of balsamic vinegar

Since last October the vinegar factory is located in a new building, the old barn of a agricultural village of mid-nineteenth century completely restored, where it was also inaugurated a new and enlarged museum. The exhibit tells through 10 thematic rooms the long and fascinating history of balsamic vinegar, deeply linked to the city of Modena and the Giusti family. A journey through time and space, in the inestimable heritage of objects and documents preserved for generations: from the ancient jars used for conservation, to the tools used over the centuries by the vinegar makers, up to the first bottles and advertising posters of the early twentieth century. Among the most precious relics there are the casks as the "A3" barrel with which Giuseppe Giusti presented himself in Florence in 1861 on the occasion of the Italian Exhibition called by the Savoy, obtaining a gold medal for a 90-year-old balsamic. The Giusti family has always participated in the Expo of the late nineteenth century bringing the vinegar also directly into cask and in 1929 obtained the coat of arms of the king by Vittorio Emanuele III Vendors of the Real Casa Savoia.
If the museum finds space in what used to be the manor house of the village, a space for tastings and hospitality was set up in the former home of the workers: in 2017 20 thousand visitors came from all over the world. Because balsamic vinegar is not just a condiment, but an ingredient in all respects, and the demonstration of where ingenuity and passion can bring us.