When grape juice turns to legend, the ice cream falls in love with balsamic vinegar.

I'm really addicted to ice cream and I cannot miss the opportunity to tell you the story that allowed me to try this fantastic speciality with a traditional product of Emilia Romagna region: the balsamic vinegar!

Two weeks ago I decided to organize a culinary tour in the area of Modena. I knew that very close to the city center there was a famous balsamic vinegar farm so I called the owner, Davide, and I asked him for a guided tour to his "Acetaia".

As soon as I arrived he welcomed me in a very friendly way. Davide is really passionate about traditional balsamic vinegar which is called here the "dark gold". Its production is handed down from one generation to another.

The farm is next to his nice liberty villa with frescoes and decoration of Bonzagni (1887-1918), the only example of Liberty in Emilia Romagna.

In this villa in 1976 the famous movie of Bernardo Bertolucci "Novecento" with Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster and Donald Sutherland was filmed.

During the tour, Davide explains me the entire process of balsamic vinegar production which is stunningly interesting:

after boiling, the must is cooled and placed in a series of individual casks of decreasing volumes and different woods. Each set is called "battery".

Under the roof of his house the sets of wooden barrels are stored to produce the 12 and 25 years DOP balsamic vinegar.

At the end of the visit,I have tasted 6 different kinds of vinegar, from the one we can find at the supermarket up to the best one: the one hundred years old!

But what really impressed me was the taste of this fantastic condiment on a ball of Vanilla Ice Cream!

I can assure you this is the best flavour I have ever tasted in my life!