What Is Red Wine Vinegar Made From
Duh—the red wine! But here’s the kicker: the vinegar retains the color and tannins from the original grape skins. Those skins give it that purplish-red hue.
Tannins are what make red wine taste dry and make your mouth pucker. In vinegar, they add a gentle bitterness that cuts through fatty foods. It’s like the vinegar is scolding your steak for being too rich.
Fun fact: cheap red wine vinegars are often made from a blend of wines or even grape concentrate. Expensive ones? They use a single-varietal wine. Yes, there’s a single-vineyard vinegar. It costs more than your lunch.
Vinegar
It’s Not Just “Sour Wine”
Some people think vinegar is just wine that sat out too long. Nope. That would taste like rotten, sad wine. Real vinegar is carefully fermented in barrels or tanks.
The process takes weeks or months. The wood barrels (oak, chestnut, or even cherry) add extra flavors—vanilla, toast, or spice. It’s like a spa day for the liquid.
And those barrels? They’re often the same ones used to age real wine. Your vinegar might have lived in a barrel that once held a $50 bottle of Bordeaux. Talk about a career change.