Katz Late Harvest Zinfandel Vinegar

2015 WINNER Good Food Awards!

Their Mission Statement...The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced. We grant awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients."

AgroDolce in Italian means “sweet and sour.” To achieve this, we harvest100% North Coast Zinfandel from the Suisun Valley in October when the brix (sugars) are over 30… very concentrated and almost port-like. We then ferment the sweet grapes into wine before adding it to our oak barrels with the addition of some “mother” (the starter) for its slow journey to becoming vinegar.

The finished vinegar has a low 5.8% acidity with a base of residual sugar for a balanced AgroDolce. The garnet, port-like color gives way to a “jammy” texture with lots of plum and fresh berry overtones and a pleasant, crisp finish.

The versatility of this elixir will expand the repertoire of every level of cook. Here are a few suggestions:

• Works well with all things tomato…use in caponata or ratatouille
• Drizzle over grilled Portobello mushrooms with warm spinach and shaved Dry Jack cheese
• Reduce in a pan and spoon over fresh figs wrapped in Prosciutto and mint
• Make a marinade for lamb with rosemary and garlic
• Make a dressing for a salad with blue cheese, walnuts and fresh (or dried) nectarines or peaches
• Use to make a base for a poaching liquid for pears

There are no shortcuts to making great vinegar!

A few years ago with the help of some local grape grower friends, who share our passion for traditional and authentic foods, we ventured out to make vinegar in the centuries-old Orleans Method, first perfected in France. Most vinegar today is produced by a system that takes just hours, but removes most of the taste and the nutrients. In contrast, authentic vinegar is converted slowly over many months and gently from quality wines with the starter (called the “mother”) in oak barrels. This is the way we do it in our Suisun Valley Vinegar House, and the result is a startlingly rich elixir with fine balance and subtle complexity. Our vinegars are used everyday in some of the best restaurant kitchens in America.