Making Red Wine Vinegar
Luckily the very first thing you must know about making red wine vinegar is the red wine part is done. Go to the store and buy four bottles of your fave red wine. If you like a sweet red wine vinegar – purchase a sweet red wine. If you like a dry. .well you get the picture. That is the simple part. Essentially, if you are reading this because you have got a cocktail party tonite and you need to serve some home made red wine vinegar, then call your local farmer’s market as you will not be done with this red wine vinegar recipe for approximately four more months.
Now you must get a wooden barrel or a crock. When you do that, pour a couple of the wine bottles in and set them aside, covered with a cheese fabric for 3 months.
Pick an ethereal spot that is not so hot, not so cold and place it where the crock will not get knocked around. Before you put it to one side, add one jar of Mycoderma Aceti, that is the bacteria that is going to further ferment the wine. A quarter from now a top should have just started forming. It isn’t an agreeable looking top, a bit greyish and a bit leathery. Once it has formed, go on and add a tumbler of wine to the mix every week. Keep doing this till this ‘top’ which is really called a “Mother” sinks to the bottom. Once the Mum sinks, strain the red wine vinegar thru many coffee filters. At about that point it is done and prepared to be used, but some folks let it age longer. The longer it ages, the mellower it will get. I’d suggest letting it age in a wooden barrel – let the tastes sink in. Making Red Wine Vinegar is a lot like making a souffl, but it does take patience and time, and you will probably have to make a few groups till it’s excellent for you.
