Balsamic

In a downtown pizzeriaI learned that aged balsamicis produced not for oneselfbut for one's descendants:families in Modena laying down vinegarlike other cultures gather wines,the mosto cotto—concentrate of juicesfrom Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes—poured through the batteria,from oak to juniper to mulberry,the barrels smaller and smaller,ash to cherry to chestnutas the vinegar ages, becomingmore and more itself.

With each new batch, a little left behind,so generations of juices accumulatein the wood. Laid down for great-grandchildrenwho will never touch the hands that harvested the grapes,that carefully heated and poured and shifted.How tenderly those old handsmust have moved, thinking of children to come.How sweet that first taste.