My First Batch of Vinegar -- North Fork of Long Island AVA

As someone who reviews 6-12 wines a week, I dump a fair amount of wine down the wink. I'm no teetotaler, but for the sake of my liver (and preserving things like my job and my marriage) I just can't drink that much wine in a week.

So, for a long time, I've found myself dumping lots of wine down the sink. Some is pretty bad, so it's a welcome dump, but there are also a lot of good wines too.

I've knocked around the idea of making my own vinegar for quite some time, but when The Obsessed One wrote about his endeavors, it was the kick in the pants I needed.

So, I headed down to Arbor Wine and Beermaking in Islip, NY and picked up an introductory vinegar making kit (basically the wide-mouth jar you see here, a mother of red wine vinegar and a piece of cheese cloth).

My mother is still in her "beginning" stage, so I mixed it with one part water and two parts wine -- Bedell Cellars 2002 Merlot.

I may not have a fancy oak barrel like Derrick, but I'm going to make an AVA-designated vinegar. All of the wine that I use for this batch will come from the North Fork of Long Island.

Comments

[Derrick Schneider]

Hooray, hooray! Here's hoping your first batch goes well.

Can't wait to see what you think of the final product. Especially when you compare it to the inevitable Hamptons AVA vinegar.

And the Ideas in Food folks use glass jars because they get the pure flavor of the source ingredient (I'm naturally eager for my oak barrel to become neutral), so you're in good company!

[Livan]

Why not just save a whole lot of time and buy some Pindar instead?

[Jathan]

This is awesome!
You're becoming a real do it your-selfer, and I just may have to follow suit.

[WhiteTrash BBQ]

And people say I'm nuts for cooking brisket for 18 hours!

The vinegar looks really interesting. But can you tell me what AVA means?

[Michelle]

If you need a second option for some of that leftover wine ...
we freeze it in ice cube trays. Then, when whipping up a pot roast or something, we have wine easily available for cooking.