It's Alive ...

Oh no! My wine has turned to vinegar.

Well if it was that easy to make good vinegar it would be common place; but wait until you taste our good vinegars. Made from organically grown grapes,, actually it starts with our wine made from organically grown grapes which is removed from the winery far away to our Vinegar House because vinegar needs to have contact with the air to carry on its slow conversion of alcohol to acetic acid. It's an old fashion tradition called the Orleans Method and it takes at least 18 months to become vinegar.

Then at this point most vinegars are pastuerized but we bottle it live with the natural bacteria still active. For the same reasons folks have sought after live apple cider vinegar, now you can enjoy live vinegar with great red wine flavors. So far I've released a Zinfandel vinegar and a Cab/Shiraz vinegar. In the works is a Petite Sirah vinegar to be released sometime this summer 2010.

From time to time I also make a Vinegar 50 which is the live vinegar that I reduce through long simmering by 50% to create a richer (for lack of a better word Balsamic style), where the sugars are carmelized and the flavor profile is altered by nothing more than the heat and time simmering.

These vinegars are available at the Davis and Sacramento Farmers Markets in bulk, meaning you can fill your own bottles from my oak casks. Sometimes I also have inventory already bottled.

Ironically I do not have bulk vinegar available in the Tasting Room because of the smell of vinegar competing with the tasting of our wines and the potential for flies. However if you call ahead we can have vinegar available for you.