I would like to take a tour of a balsamic vinegar plant while in Modena later this month and would appreciate some recommendations.

I have found a couple tour groups that do "all day" tours departing from Bologna, but I will be based in Modena, and besides do not want to pay 500 eu per person, therefore am looking for places that will let my husband and I do this without a "formal" group per se. Actually I dont mind doing an all day tour with a guide, but cannot afford to shell out big bucks to do so!

You can try writing to these producers; they apparently allow visits:


http://www.acetaiadigiorgio.it/eng/a...ere_we_are.htm

http://www.bompana.com/index.php

If you have no luck, write to the consortium:


http://www.acetaiaditalia.it/acetaiaditalia.htm

Or just write to other producers.


Are you sure the guided tours of which you write are 500 euro per person?

THANKS I will do that!!

I did a little more searching here on Fodors and found a "food tour" of Emilia Romagna that includes a balsamic vinegar tour and is 130eu so much more reasonable, but would still prefer to do the tours on my own if possible. I am rapidly exceding my budget for the trip so am having to cut a few corners where possible, and even 130 eu would end up being around 350 USD for the day for my husband and I, which is more than I want to spend.

I don't blame you! That is a fortune!

Please let us know what info you get if you e-mail those places I linked above..thanks!!

I also think that there are various shops in Modena that will give you an introduction to the process....then you can just buy a bottle from them which you are probably planning to do anyway..

Here is an acetaia that allows visits by appointment:


http://www.acetaiamalpighi.it/En/z_visite.htm

Having done the research for this last year, I believe that a few of the problems with arranging this kind of tour are that a)the facilities are usually not set up for tours and b)language - unless your Italian is really good, the tour guide you engage is also your interpreter. Keep digging, you may find something.

I have been to the Malpighi one mentioned by ekscrunchy. It is actually little outside of Modena. I paid 16€ taxi to get there several years ago from the train station. The place was really a fermentation facility. The tour was all in English. What I remember above all was the heavenly smell in the fermentation room while the guide explained the manufacturing process. There was a tasting session at the end of the tour. What was pity was that they did not send to the U.S. so all I could buy was what I could carry back in my luggage. The whole process took less than an hour.

I took a taxi back to the Piazza Grande in Modena and walked around. I did not see any other tourists.

I emailed both of the acetaia's mentioned, will report back with my findings!

Yes, please report back.

Meanwhile, here is a list of other producers with contact information so you can write and try to arrange a tour. Also, if you are staying in a hotel you might just write to them and ask;


http://www.vacanzeitinerari.it/strut...io_sr_3302.htm

I went to Aceta di Giorgio yesterday in Modena (you have a link to it above)...I didn't make an appointment cuz I didn't really know I had to, so just buzzed the door and Giorgio let me in! I don't speak Italian so we waited until his wife Giovanna came home for the more formal tour....but it was INCREDIBLE!!! Best of all it is free...but that is good because you will want to buy some of the liquid gold at the end and expect to pay around 100 euro (but Giorgio doesn't make any money from this passion...cuz that is what it is a love and passion....you will see!) Enjoy yourself and Modena!! I go out for my last dinner in a few hours....the food is incredible (I recommend L'erbe de Re..it is a one star Michelin and wonderful...and accessible unlike the fabled Hosteria Guisti and Osteria Francescana). Have fun!

Falling Leaves - did you take a vinegar tour? I'm planning same this summer, would be interested to hear what you wound up doing!

I know that this post is old, however has anyone used this company to organise the balsamic vinegar tour in Modena? http://www.emiliadelizia.com/
I just wanted to chat with someone who used them...

Hi,

In November, 2011 I visited the Malpighi showroom and had a wonderful tour in English. We saw the complete production and visited the fermentation room. There was a tasting at the end which included all of their products-white balsamic, flavored balsamic, variously aged balsamic, chocolate with balsamic in the center, and they also demonstrated various products used with balsamic, for instance, glass spouts that only allow a drop at a time for the most aged/expensive vinegars. We had the opportunity to purchase anything we wanted and it was wrapped beautifully. I believe they said that some of their products are sold in the USA at Williams Sonoma. I purchased some gifts for Italian friends who seemed very pleased with the them.