red wine vinegar
Vinegar made from fermented red wine, sharp and fruity with more depth than plain distilled vinegar, used in dressings, marinades, and pan sauces to add acidity and a rounder flavor than white vinegar's harsher bite. The specific wine it came from can make one bottle noticeably fruitier or sharper than another.
Buying guidance
A cloudy sediment at the bottom of the bottle, sometimes called the mother, is harmless and normal in less-filtered versions -- it doesn't mean the vinegar has gone bad. Check the acidity percentage on the label if precision matters, usually around 5 to 7 percent; a higher-acid vinegar tastes sharper and needs less of it to balance a dish.
Substitutions
- Balsamic vinegar -- sweeter and more syrupy; good in similar dressings but changes the flavor noticeably.
- White wine vinegar -- lighter and less fruity, a fair swap where color doesn't matter.
- Sherry vinegar -- nuttier and more complex, close in intensity to red wine vinegar.
Tips & common mistakes
Vinegar's sharp acidity mellows the longer it cooks, so a dish simmered a long time with vinegar added only at the start can taste flatter than expected by the time it's done -- reserving a splash to stir in at the very end restores the bright acidity that cooking softened.
Storage
Vinegar is acidic enough to be essentially self-preserving, so an opened bottle kept in a cool cabinet stays safe and usable far longer than most condiments -- flavor may dull very slowly over a year or more, but there's no need to refrigerate it or worry about a hard expiration date.