Modena is a small city often overlooked by tourists, but there is a lifelong resident known the world over – Luciano Pavarotti. Pavarotti was born in Modena and lived here most of his life. Upon his passing, his widow Nicoletta Mantovani turned their home into the Casa Museo Luciano Pavarotti in order to keep his memory alive. The house is exactly as he left it and all four floors and twelve rooms are open to visitors. It has well-known memorabilia, like the piano given to him after he signed his first recording contract, to more personal items and spaces, like his kitchen.

Pavarotti designed his kitchen and painted it yellow, bright and cheerful like the sun. He loved to cook; it was a way to enjoy a meal, and more importantly, time spent with friends and loved ones. He loved his kitchen so much that when Pavarotti toured, 20 of the 50 pieces of luggage he traveled with contained items from his kitchen, like pots and knives, even pasta, salami, and cheese and vinegar from Modena. I spoke with Nicoletta about one of his strongest superstitions – his need to find a bent nail on stage for good luck. Nicoletta told me that it was such a strong superstition for him – and not always an easy thing to find! – that she started putting bent nails on the stage for him to find.

While Pavarotti may be the King of the Opera, there’s another king that hails from Modena – Parmigiano Reggiano, the king of cheeses. There are several caseificios you can visit in Modena to see how this delicious cheese is produced, and the process is nothing short of astounding. Taking a tour of Caseificio Castelnovese, you’ll be overwhelmed by what they call the Cathedral, or storage room, that houses 77,000 wheels of cheese as they age. It feels more like Fort Knox than a dairy! The wheels of cheese are placed in the cathedral and are not able to be called Parmigiano Reggiano until they have matured for 12 months.

No wheel is deemed ready to open until an expert known as a tapper is able to inspect the wheel by, you guessed it, knocking on the wheel with a special hammer. As they knock, they are listening to hear if the sound is the same wherever they tap it on the wheel, from the center to the rind. I met up with tour guide Anne Meglioli, who showed me how the wheels are broken open to keep the grainy structure of the cheese intact. I was lucky enough to be able to try three differently aged Parmigiano Reggianos, including one aged 70 months. Oh my goodness, that is some heavenly cheese, whose deliciously strong flavor fills your mouth completely with one bite.

Everything involved in producing this cheese is controlled and locally sourced – from the location of the farms, to what they feed the cows, to how it’s aged and checked. It is why Parmigiano Reggiano can only be produced in specific provinces of Emilia-Romagna, including Modena, and it serves as a delicious ambassador for the region.

From the peaceful cathedral of the caseificios to the streets of the Motor Valley, it’s time to visit a place in Modena that truly gets the heart racing. Stanguellini cars have become synonymous with speed, luxury, and beauty, and touring the Stanguellini Car Museum is like stepping into a living timeline of Italian engineering. You can see the original cars Vittorio Stanguellini created from Fiats he modified solely for one purpose – to go fast!

Stanguellini cars were foundational to the early Formula Junior racing scene. Their early cars, powered by the modified Fiats Vittorio was known for, won the first-ever Formula Junior race and many more titles in the 1950s. Visitors can see two of these winning race cars, one of which even tops out at speeds of 220 kph (140 mph)! Lucky for me, the cars in the museum all have working engines, and Francesca Stanguellini, Vittorio’s granddaughter and curator of the museum, loves to take them out for a spin. Now I’m truly traveling in true Italian style!

The process of making superior balsamic vinegar takes more than time; it takes the unique climate of Modena to create something truly special. And, for the last five generations, the Malpighi family has done just that. What began in 1850 when Pietro Malpighi gifted the recipe to his son Augusto, has continued through a laborious, time-consuming tradition of patience and love.

It takes a few things to make a vinegar worthy of Pietro’s original recipe – terrain, grapes, barrels, time, and the producer – but the microclimate of Modena really makes this vinegar shine. The cold winters and blazing hot summers provide just the right weather for both settling and fermentation. I spoke with Massimiliano Palvarini about the tradition of making vinegar as Acetaia Malpighi. I was also able to try a few different vinegars, including a 25-year-old Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena “Extravecchio,” which is so thick you have to wait for it to come out of the bottle – but wow, is it worth the wait! I have never tasted anything like it, but Massimiliano tells me it’s best to pair it with chocolate or ice cream.

Lambrusco wine has often been misunderstood, and Paltrinieri Winery embraces that perception with unexpected complexity and variety, revealing just how expressive this sparkling wine can be. Alberto Paltrinieri and his wife Barbara Galassi now own Paltrinieri Winery, founded in 1926 by Alberto’s grandfather Achille – most likely with his family and future generations in mind. Though Alberto never knew his grandfather, that vision continues to guide his work today.

Based in Sorbara, the village that also gives its name to the grape, Paltrinieri specializes in sparkling Lambrusco, a wine traditionally made from red grapes. I had a chance to spend some time with Alberto, Barbara, and their daughter Cecilia to discuss this unique wine and I was surprised to see the range of colors produced at the vineyard. Each wine was crisp and delicious – a refreshing reminder of their dedication to honoring tradition while pouring their passion into every bottle, perfectly pairing with all Modena has to offer.