Our Partners - Acetaia Villa San Donnino

We first met Davide Lonardi, the owner of Acetaia  Villa San Donnino in Modena, when we started taking our guests to taste his exceptional balsamics as part of our Italian Tours to northern Italy. 

Davide is a third generation balsamic producer. He was born into the industry, and grew up watching the production process. After training and working as a top sommelier in Italy, he joined the family business and now overseas the production of the balsamic. 

While he is immersed in the traditions of balsamic manufacture, he’s also brought some new ideas to his craft, developing a younger balsamic condiment (Nerone) that can be substituted for soy sauce and which is proving popular with Japanese restaurants seeking innovative ideas. 

Davide is also producing a white balsamic that’s proving very popular in the French market. Its delicate, fruity and less intense flavour is beautifully matched with fish and white sauces. We also stock Davide’s Bianco Balsamic. 

Davide and his family live in the charming Villa San Donnino, a remarkable liberty style villa that was used in scenes in the famous Italian movie "1900", directed by Bernadro Bertolucci and staring Robert De Niro and Gérard Depardieu. The family have maintained parts if the Villa in the traditional liberty style and it's always a pleasure to visit.