Modena- Balsamic tour/tasting

Check out Acetaia Marchi, just 10-15 minutes' drive from Piazza Grande and easily reachable by taxi for a modest fare.
https://www.acetaiamarchi.com/en/guided-tours/

This past April we did their group tour in English -- very interesting and informative. We saw every step of production and learned about the differences between Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP and Balsamic Vinegar Tradizionale of Modena DOP, both of which they produce. The tour started in their small vineyard, took us through their production facility, and ended with tastings of the many kinds of balsamic they produce. All for 15 Euros per person. You have to book ahead -- see website. We were already in Modena and just called them, but it looks like you can also book online.

On a previous visit to Modena, I did a tasting at Acetaia Giusti's store on the main piazza, and I also did the Commune's museum tour in Italian. If you don't understand Italian, I don't think you'll get much from the museum tour except what you can take in visually, i.e., the attic battery of barrels. Touring Acetaia Marchi was a much fuller experience, and I was surprised to prefer their balsamic over Giusti's which I had previously bought loyally. I have now switched. In fact, I bought so many different kinds of balsamic from Acetaia Marchi after our tour that I had to check a bag on the flight home. Am still enjoying my purchases :)

Enjoy your visit to Modena and let me know if I can help further.

The problem is that in fact the most of producers of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar are in the countryside. Are little production, kept in the attic of farms (or for bigger producers the whole farm is transformed into al attic).
About the taste, every time you purchase a Traditional Balsamic Vinegar you always purchase a great product, but the taste could be different depending by the producer. Each one can decide the kind of grape, the cooking time and the kind of wood in the barrel batch, so the finale taste and flavor is different. Often I suggest to my tourists to visit a little shop in the center of Modena called "Consorteria". The sell only Traditional Balsamic and they represent more than 20 different producers: is the only place in the World where you can compare so many different Vinegars and find the one you prefer.
To have an idea about how special is this product thing that in the province of Modena there are about 200 producers and the total production is about 10'000 liters per year. there are producers who make only 30/40 liters per year.

Unfortunately I don't have any contacts for an actual tour but when I travelled there about 10 years ago we went to this amazing producer. We are currently booking our next trip to Italy and definitely have this on the itinerary to go back and stock up. Just used the last of our purchase from 10 years ago!!

https://www.villasandonnino.it/

Thanks everyone!

Accidental Southerner- went to Acetaia Marchi today for their tour and tasting and it was an incredible experience. Thank you so much for the recommendation!!!

I'm so glad!! Thanks for letting us know. Enjoy the rest of your time in Italy.