Balsamic visits/Restaurant suggestions in Modena

Looking for suggestions for balsamic tours in Modena (will be there for ~2 days late next month following Piedmont) - was hoping to do something private/semi private at small producer(s)… been using visitmodena website but there’s about 30 producers listed…

needless to say - would like to purchase a few bottles of extravecchia to bring back… any producers to buy directly from? or reputable shops in city?

Any restaurant recs also appreciated for lunch and dinner

thank you for any thoughts/comments

Giusti for lunch. There are only 4 or 5 tables and they only serve lunch. It is very very good.
Ask for a visit to the wine cellar.

There are certainly plenty of ours around, either just to balsamic vinegar producers, or also incorporating parmesan and/or prosciutto producers. If these appeal, the tourist office in Bologna is a good place to start.

We booked our trip direct, simply by emailing them. It was Ca’ de Medici 34, VIA DELLA STAZIONE (almost midway between Reggio and Parma, just a little north of the via Emilia, same family as the Lambrusco producer Medici Ermete).

Lovely getting a personal tour, with just us two and the family member who took us round. Still a significant charge for tour & tasting, but not unreasonable at all. Some of the organised tours ask a very pretty penny, significantly more than we were charged.

Very instructive to see the barrels and the progression in size, but also to have that shocking aroma hit on entry. They said in summer the impact is shockingly intense, such that some visitors have to go outside to get some air.

The tasting also very instructive, back then the classification was (a variety of) basic bottlings, then (IIRC) Red, Silver, Gold, with the latter being ~ 20-25 years old. Yes you can taste the difference. We bought some Red and some Gold. A slight note of caution though, in that although the gold was brilliant, we weren’t that frequent in eating dishes where the gold was the right one to have, and it can be wasted on many dishes. These days I’m tending to look for a good 8-10 year old bottle as the fanciest we get, with a simpler one for cooking with. I tend to buy mine when visiting Bologna.

Also strongly recommended by someone on SlowEurope travel site, who tend to be savvier than the majority.

Acetaia del Cristo has some lovely vinegar and offers tours. I’ve never been but it might be worth checking out:
https://www.acetaiadelcristo.it/en/about-us/come-and-visit-us/

The only restaurant I’ve been to in Modena was Osteria Francescana. It was nice but not the most memorable fine dining experience I’ve had. I know many people would strongly beg to differ so check it out if you like that sort of thing.

Ian, your post on the balsamic tour sounded “too familiar” so I looked at the website. Yep, that’s the place we visited. Very nice and personal.

http://www.medici.it/en/vinegar-works/

We also did a parmigiano Reggio cheese making tour at another place. That was really interesting watching them start with the raw milk and working their magic and lower backs! Tough job.

Appreciate all the suggestions - working on the itinerary… thank you

Opera 02 Cà Montanari: Fantastic agriturismo with a lovely restaurant. They produce both balsamico and Lambrusco. Opera02 Società Agricola s.r.l. | Ristorante, Resort e Cantina Vinicola

Acetaia Malpighi is reknowned. Also close by is Tenuta Pederzana who makes killer Lambrusco.

Book this place now if you want to go there. We waited too long and missed out.

If you’re not going to Osteria Francescana (or even if you are - we did both), I highly recommend his more casual restaurant Franceschetta58 – really delicious food and a fun wine list of well-curated small (mostly Italian) producers.

For a casual lunch, grab an awesome sandwich at Bar Schiavoni at the Mercato Albinelli – it’s tiny and take-away, but there are a few tables outside if it’s not too cold.