Homemade Red Wine Vinegar Recipe (2024)

Mya mama, born and raised in the Naples, Italy, would make vinegar with left over wine in the simplest way imaginable and it worked every time without fail.She would simply add a few macherone to the bottle, whatever she had on hand, sometimes elbows sometimes ziti, let it sit for about 2 months.The best tasting vinegar you could imagine, rich and full bodied.Of course the macherone would turn mushy, must be removed before using the vinegar.She strained the liquid through cheesecloth before use.

Can you elaboate...cooked or raw pasta, approximately how much and did she seal bottle or cover with cheesecoth? Thanks!

What do you mean by pasteurize it? Are you doing this after the mixture becomes vinegar, or right away when you mix the wine with the raw vinegar?

I've made vinegar a few times, and after the first batch, I learned the hard way to pasteurize it at 150°. The best one I made was with some dead Champagne.

Do not ever continue a fermentation if mold grows on your mother.

I've read that ideal vinegar is made from 7-10% alcohol, so if you're starting with a red wine at 15%, then dilute with water equal to about 1/3 the volume of wine. I can't find that article, but here's another that seems pretty scientific... https://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-12/making-vinegar-home -- these guys say to "add a splash of water"

Once it's become vinegar, you heat it to 150°, otherwise it will continue to ferment, which isn't bad for you but is visually unappealing. I never pasteurize my homemade vinegar.

It does not have to be a "good" wine. Any red will will do. It is going to be acidified anyway. Trader Joe's "2 buck Chuck" will be more than sufficent.

I've made this several times, and am on my way to my 4th batch. I have made this out of red wine, white wine, and jun kombucha.I now starting a sparkling rose.

I used about 5 different bottles of the cheapest wine I could find. One of the bottles was on the counter, 1/4 full, for months and the vinegar was fantastic. I didn't add water. I'm making a batch from the mother from the first batch and it seems to doing just as well. The vinegar is light and so flavorful, even though the wine was (some of it) pretty rank.

From what I’ve been reading online, the gelatinous membrane is the pellicle, the discharge from the fermentation process that tells you it’s working, not the mother. The mother is simply some of those goopy bits floating around your raw ACV so evident in a brand like Braggs.

It does not have to be a "good" wine. Any red will will do. It is going to be acidified anyway. Trader Joe's "2 buck Chuck" will be more than sufficent.

Any tips on the aging process? After I strain off the mother should I store in a glass container? What kind of cap? Plastic? Cork?

I’m following this recipe and no mold is forming- but neither is any vinegar mother (it’s been 2 months). It does smell like vinegar. Thoughts?

Could I use a scoby from kombucha for the mother?

Storing Your VinegarOnce ready for storage - put in separate, capped containers. Stored vinegar will stay in excellent condition almost indefinitely if it is pasteurized. To pasteurize, heat the vinegar before pouring it into sterilized bottles, or bottle, then place in a hot water bath. In both cases, the temperature of the vinegar must reach at least 140 degrees F to pasteurize the product, and should not exceed 160 degrees F. Use a cooking thermometer to ensure the correct temperature

I misread 1/2 cup vinegar for 1 cup! Oops.

DebC: I believe the ratio for this works out to about 3/4 cup water to every 1 cup wine. 750 ml wine 120 ml vinegar 550 ml water = about 3/4 of a half gallon. Very roughly, but from what I've read very forgiving. Still waiting to see results of first batch.

Mya mama, born and raised in the Naples, Italy, would make vinegar with left over wine in the simplest way imaginable and it worked every time without fail.She would simply add a few macherone to the bottle, whatever she had on hand, sometimes elbows sometimes ziti, let it sit for about 2 months.The best tasting vinegar you could imagine, rich and full bodied.Of course the macherone would turn mushy, must be removed before using the vinegar.She strained the liquid through cheesecloth before use.

Do not ever continue a fermentation if mold grows on your mother.

If I’m starting with a partial bottle of wine, not a full 750 ml, what would be the proportions of the wine to water?

I've made vinegar a few times, and after the first batch, I learned the hard way to pasteurize it at 150°. The best one I made was with some dead Champagne.