A Winemaker's Vinegar

A good wine vinegar begins with good wine.

Good wine vinegar begins with good wine and this one begins with the very best. Made from a selection of aromatic grapes from the cellars and vineyards of Azienda Agricola Pojer e Sandri in the alpine valley of the Italian Dolomites. The collaboration of these two winemakers began with a family and a friendship and grapes grown in Italy's Sud Tyrol in northern Italy. Pope John XXIII said that “men are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age". At Pojer e Sandri, their families and friendship have aged and so has their vinegar and wine.

The family's agricultural land along the Adige river in the Trentino region of northern Italy provided the two friends the site for a joint endeavor to develop a vineyard reviving the local grape varieties of Italy's Sud-Tyrol using the land to make distinctive wines and vinegars unique to the Trentino Alto-Adige. The cool mountain breezes coming down from the Alps and the cool air coming off Lago di Garda yielded bright, fragrant fruit.

This all goes to make over 300,000 bottles of 60 different products, from wine to verjus to brandy to grappa— 5-10% of which is vinegar.

Vinegar making has always been a part of Pojer & Sandri’s sustainability efforts so they restored an old house in the middle of the vineyard into a vinegar factory and followed the same passion they had for making wine into the making of artisanal vinegar. Vineyards can be a source for both wine and vinegar, as the process of making vinegar starts with wine, but not many wine producers do so.

Turning wine into vinegar is an alchemist tale that takes time and effort. The Pojer e Sandri vinegar cellar acetaia (ah-cheh-TAH-yah) has the pedigree of the wine and the fingerprints of the makers all over it. Beginning with the planting of the vines to the cultivation and harvesting of the grapes and the making of the wine. Then by traditional slow-percolation and barrel aging for up to 2 years developed a robust and tangy vinegar with an elegant balanced flavor reminiscent of award winning wines.

Their red wine vinegar is medium-bodied, very much like a great Pinot Noir, with notes of dried fruit (apples, raisins) and fall’s forest floor. A bright note in dressings for salads with leafy spring greens as well as grilled vegetables, artichokes and radicchio. Use it to deglaze roast meats and pork. Add to stews for an extra depth of flavor; in marinades to tenderize meat. Because it is all natural and made with no preservatives it offers several health benefits. Vinegar is known to help with the breakdown of food for better nutrient absorption and stimulates the digestive process enhancing digestive health. 

The essence of the wine is in the essence of this vinegar. An Alpine vinegar that is a true reflection of the land and the artisan's hand, from generational producers from us to you.

Panzanella Caprese

Click here for a variation of the classic Tuscan Panzanella using Pojer e Sandri Red Wine Vinegar.

Dolomiti Red Wine Vinegar

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