Acetaia Meloria in Gabriele Salvatores's video for Expo 2020 Dubai

For the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, held from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, the Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores told the story of Italy's regions and their know-how, under the title "Beauty Connects People". For Emilia-Romagna his crew also came into our acetaia in Casinalbo di Formigine.

The black-and-white video sets two worlds side by side. On one side, industry: the machinery, the robots and the Ducati assembly line, with their relentless pace. On the other, the acetaia: the barrels under their cloths, the hands lifting them, the vinegar held up to the light in a glass flask. Then only silence and time remain: Claudio Maletti, the owner of the acetaia, sits at the table in front of a lit candle and brings the glass of balsamic to his nose.

That contrast says a lot about our work. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP comes from a single ingredient, cooked must from Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes, and from a battery of six barrels of different woods, with one racking a year, for at least twelve years in the Affinato and twenty-five in the Extravecchio. Time, here, cannot be shortened.

Still from the video for the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, directed by Gabriele Salvatores, produced by Indiana Production

How traditional balsamic vinegar is made, from must to bottle