Certain Wine Enthusiasts I know might have a heart attack when they read this. Especially when one one of them specifically and earnestly told us recently–protect your investment of this liquid art and never leave it in a car. But, you know. Life happens. Family members get sick, go to E.R. and end up staying in for two weeks having 3 surgical procedures. So two boxes of wine got left in our cars, never to be thought of until he was out of danger. Eight beautiful bottles of fine wine, including a sparkling wine! It was mid winter and pretty cold, but I would not want to chance using it for a wine tasting and having a prospective customer be turned off. All is not lost, though! After some research I realized I can turn these bottles into something useful again! I am making wine vinegar!
I am also making sparkling wine vinegar. Can’t say Champagne Vinegar, but it is essentially the same thing. However, since the sparkling wine, like all of my wine club wines comes from California(Napa and Sonoma Valley), not the Champagne region of France, I can’t use the term Champagne.
The process is really pretty simple, and you can do it with left over wine, should you ever unexpectedly have some!
The first thing you want is some clean jars. Like Mason Jars you would use to make jam with. And yes, you could repurpose wine bottles for this, if you had stoppers for the bottles. You can get some vacuum stoppers at this site, as well as some cool electric corkscrews and other wine gadgets that make great gifts!
Obviously, I don’t want to have wasted money on wine that may no longer be prime to drink, but there is other motivation at work here! Making Wine Vinegar with a good quality wine gives you a healthier, more flavorful wine vinegar that you can get at any store!
Now, some people say, for using wine for anything but pure drinking they just go buy a cheap bottle. But I completely disagree. Commercial wines you get in the local grocery store can be legally adulterated with all kinds of additives that the makers have no legal requirement to tell you about. Including arsenic! Yes, really!
This is a horrible reality in the food industry, but that is a rant for another day. My point is, if you are trying to eat (and drink) healthier, quality counts. Even if it is your vinegar or the wine you cook with. A good rule is, never cook or, in this case, make vinegar, with a wine you wouldn’t drink in its original form!
The simplest way to make wine vinegar is to pour it in a mason jar and cover the top with cheese cloth or coffee filters. Secure them with rubber bands so they stay on and keep any critters out. Put it on the back of your counter and let it sit for a couple of weeks. When it is ready, put in your containers and close up with a lid. Really any glass bottles will work, if you have a tight fitting lid or cap. And a great way to upcycle used bottles–think wonderful homemade gifts for your foodie friends!
You can also do a continuous process where you use one cup of raw organic vinegar with the mother for every two cups of wine. You will see the ‘mother’ form a skin on the top which eventually sinks. This is healthy and good–a colony of bacteria that makes your vinegar and gives you great health benefits! Otherwise, the process is the same. As you use your wine vinegar, you can continuously add more wine to replenish, as long as there is still a ‘mother’ in the container. Speaking of, make sure you use a glass container. No metal or plastic!
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