Wine Guide: How to Make Red Wine Vinegar

It’s Not Just Wine Gone Bad

Vinegar is one of the magical transformations of the culinary world. The base French words tell its story: vinegar is soured wine. Red wine vinegar is made from, logically, red wine.

So how is this elixir created? It is possible to create vinegar by catching wild bacteria from the air, but the result will not be consistent. Sometimes, no vinegar will form and the wine will just spoil. The specific bacteria can be found as a liquid culture, but the best method for making vinegar at home is to procure a mother of vinegar

The mother of vinegar is a squishy blob that inoculates the wine. A new mother grows on the top of the soon-to-be-born vinegar as the souring begins, each and every time. These can be thrown out or donated to a culinary enthusiast for their own culinary adventures. Consider it a form of self-preservation: if your own mother of vinegar should go off permanently, you’ll have a friend ready to give you back a culture.

Preparing For the Long Haul

Making vinegar is a lengthy process, requiring three to six months. More time creates more acidity. Only by tasting the vinegar will you know if it is appropriately sour. Fermentation will continue even after removing the mother of vinegar, so use the vinegar before it turns too sour. Although homemade vinegar should never be used for canning or pickling, it makes a mighty tasty salad dressing. Apart from time, you only need a few more easy to purchase ingredients.

1)      Red wine. Since we are making red wine vinegar, red wine is more than a little important. Any sort will do, even the last few ounces left from a tasting or most of a bottle that was a little bland. Allowing the wine to breathe for a day lets the sulfites to disperse, since the sulfites prevent wine from naturally souring.

The culture or mother of vinegar. Though not needed in the sense that vinegar needs wine, making a go of it without a culture is a bit reckless. When in doubt, the Internet will connect you with the mother of vinegar of your dreams.

A non-reactive food grade crock. Clearly, you need a container in which to make the best vinegar you’ve ever had. A crock with a spigot at the bottom is ideal, to simplify the vinegar’s extraction.

Finally Jumping In

1)      Pour the wine into the crock, then allow it to sit for twenty-four hours. Add the culture or mother and cover the top of the crock with a piece of cheesecloth or a large coffee filter, securing it with a rubber band or string.

The hard part begins: let the vinegar sit. If other items are fermenting in the kitchen, keep the vinegar separate to prevent the bacteria from mingling. A grayish film will form on the top; this is the new mother of vinegar.

After three months, begin tasting. As soon as the vinegar tastes right, pour out the vinegar and begin the process again. Because of the acid, vinegar can be stored at room temperature.

As with most foods, a homemade vinegar tastes better than a store bought preparation. Since it has not been pasteurized, making your own vinegar will give your body all the wonderful little bacteria found in yogurt and other cultured items. Controlling and observing the process in your own kitchen is like having your own tiny laboratory; after all, cooking is just science by any other name. And if you’re certain to gift some of the delicious to brew to suitably grateful friends, think of all the wine tastings you’ll be invited to so you can grab the last bits of the bottles.

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