The finest balsamic vinegars are made in small batches in attics, rather than cellars, and the most celebrated producers measure their skill in centuries: the Giusti family have been making it for 17 generations.
This oro nero (black gold) is made only in Reggio Emilia and Modena provinces, but the best comes from the latter. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena is derived from the cooked must of trebbiano and lambrusco grapes, and must be aged for at least 12 years in wooden barrels to get the crucial Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP) logo on its label.
There are cheaper options — the IGP label and the condimento classification — but you haven’t come to the Po Valley to buy caramel-dyed rubbish diluted with wine vinegar.
Age is measured in travasi: the number of seasonal transfers into flavour-imparting barrels of cherry, oak, chestnut, mulberry and juniper. A white cap signifies a 12-year-old brew, a gold cap 25 years or older. It’s the climate here that counts: the icy winters slow down the fermentation process and the baking summers ensure the evaporation of all that unwanted water.
You could, of course, buy your gold-topped DOP at Bologna airport, but there’s no fun in that. Far better to spend a morning among the barrels, tasting gloopy brews so sweet that the locals drink them as pudding wine.
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Begin by booking a tasting at the balsamic vinegar museum in Spilamberto (00 39-059 781614, museodelbalsamicotradizionale.org), from which you’ll get the addresses of the members of the elite Consorteria dell’Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale. Visits are by appointment only — try Simonetta at the Corleto family (335 401176, acetaiacorleto.com), or go and see the Giustis (059 840135, giusti.it), where a 100ml bottle of the 12-year-old Affinato costs £55, and 100ml of the 100-year-old Giusti Riserva will set you back £255