On the 2nd of May, all the workers of Aceto Balsamico del Duca gathered for an important celebration: our Adriano Grosoli, one of the four historical “big” of Balsamic Vinegar, turned 90.
He was the one who, in 1974, with courage and foresight, chose to devote himself to the production and diffusion of the black gold. He decided to celebrate his 90th birthday with a dinner in the acetaia, surrounded by historic collaborators and by those barrels whose nectar, cured with patience and dedication, allowed him to present Modena to the whole world.
Adriano’s experience begins in the war years, when he starts to take care of the family business – founded in 1891 by his grandfather Adriano – which includes the pork processing, with the production of cured meats, the management of the restaurant in San Donnino di Modena and the small delicatessen of typical products of Modena, with Balsamic Vinegar as the most important one. Adriano takes over the management of the business, but a few years later, coinciding with the opening of the first supermarkets in the city, he decides to close the shop in order to focus on his passion: The Balsamic.
«At the beginning there was the need to explain what it was; at the international fairs, the first question was “is this wine?” An astonished expression would follow, when they were told that it was “Balsamic Vinegar”, this stranger. » our Adriano tells us. «Afterwards, I would tell the story of how it has been produced for centuries in the area of Modena, the production technique, the history of the family that always used to fascinate people, especially the Americans. Then the tasting and the question “How do you use it in Italy? Which dishes do you prepare?” and the Balsamic Vinegar would enter their kitchens as ambassador of Made in Italy. Today the approach is different. People already know what Balsamic Vinegar is, how it is used and its history, thanks to the amount of information coming from the web. But are we sure that it’s really like that? »
Adriano has spread the knowledge of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena around the world and now the next generations have the duty to hand down and spread more and more these traditions and knowhow.
