Acetaia La Bonissima IGP Reserve Sigillo Platino

Tasting notes of the Curator

There’s a distinct reverence when one first tilts a spoonful of Sigillo Platino to the light. The texture itself speaks before the flavor: slow, viscous, with that slight delay before the first drop falls. Its color is near black, yet translucent—like polished mahogany catching the afternoon sun in an attic loft.

On the nose, the bouquet reveals cooked grape must, wood resin, dark fruit, and faint smoke, the olfactory memory of oak and time. The first taste moves slowly: a round sweetness at the front, then the soft rise of acidity—gentle, measured, harmonious. This is not vinegar meant for haste. It invites stillness, reflection. The acidity is never sharp but elegant, carrying whispers of plum, raisin, and tobacco.

There is an almost paradoxical tension between density and freshness—an equilibrium only patience can achieve. Every barrel in La Bonissima’s acetaia is a small ecosystem, evaporating and concentrating season after season, under heat and cold, absorbing the memory of wood and the rhythm of the Modenese air. Five summers and five winters refine what was once simple grape must into something elemental: time crystallized into taste.

Used sparingly, a few drops can redefine a dish. But Sigillo Platino is equally at home as an end in itself—something to taste from a porcelain spoon, eyes closed, the way one contemplates fine spirits or old poetry.

Pairings and Suggestions

To appreciate its balance, use Sigillo Platino where both sweetness and acidity can speak in chorus:

• Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano aged over 30 months — a classic harmony of sharp salt and rounded sweetness.
• Roasted meats, especially pork belly or duck breast — the vinegar’s quiet acidity cuts through richness without erasing flavor.
• Grilled vegetables — particularly zucchini, eggplant, or radicchio, brushed with oil and finished with a few drops just before serving.
• Vanilla ice cream or strawberries — a whisper of complexity where dessert meets depth.
• Salads of bitter greens (endive, arugula) — an alternative to citrus, creating balance with olive oil rather than contrast.
• Sliced ripe tomatoes and burrata — a simple setting that lets the vinegar’s maturity shine.

Use it with restraint. Sigillo Platino is not seasoning—it is punctuation. It finishes a dish the way a poet ends a stanza: quietly, decisively, and with grace.

A Barrel-House Tale from the Vinegar Cellar

At the heart of the Apennine foothills, just a few kilometres from Modena’s city centre, lies the modest yet revered estate of Acetaia La Bonissima. The story goes that the family barrels of cooked grape must once slept in the attic, under beams darkened by time and summer heat. Over decades, the dark vintages matured, evaporated, concentrated—until what remained was not just vinegar but distilled time.

On one humid afternoon, I stood before rows of ancient oak barrels, the scent of fermenting must in the air, light filtering through a high window. A worker gently raked a layer of film from the surface of one barrel. The wheel turned slowly, the must inside glinting like liquid amber.

They spoke of “Sigillo Platino” as the privilege of patience—only those batches that have crossed the five-year threshold, that have achieved both richness and clarity, are awarded that seal. In a corner of the cellar stood an old bottle from the 1960s, its label curled and browned with age, the cork fused to the neck by time. The family keeps it as a reminder that La Bonissima was never meant to be a factory—it was, and remains, a house of waiting.

Every harvest, the same grapes are cooked down, reduced to thick must, transferred from barrel to barrel as the seasons pass. The process has no shortcuts; it moves with the rhythm of nature—heat, evaporation, rest. To taste Sigillo Platino is to taste that rhythm, that discipline, that devotion to slowness that modern life has almost forgotten.

Storage Instructions

Store tightly sealed at room temperature, away from direct sunlight or heat sources. Once opened, Sigillo Platino remains stable for years thanks to its natural acidity. Do not refrigerate; temperature changes can disturb its balance. A clean pour spout or cork stopper will prevent oxidation and preserve its nuanced bouquet.