A couple of Nelson County foodies transform
local wines into distinctly Virginia vinegars.

By Lisa Reeder • Photos by Sarah Cramer Shields

I’m a horrible employee—I’ve never been interested in a nine-to-five job,” says Jay Rostow, as his wife and business partner Steph laughs in agreement. Living on a small farm near Wingina, the couple raise much of their own food and have survived off the grid for a decade by harnessing solar energy.

A few years ago, their contracting work in the cellular-phone industry began to dry up, and the Rostows started casting around for a business idea that would suit their rural Nelson County lifestyle, as well as their desire to participate in the vibrant food system in Central Virginia. The result of that occupational awakening is Virginia Vinegar Works, based in a single-room cottage on the property of the Alberene Soapstone Company in Schuyler. Inside, Jay helps Steph unload a cart of wine cases from a nearby vineyard as he recalls visiting a California farmers’ market a number of years ago. Of all the products showcased there, what stuck with him the most were the small-batch, varietal olive oils. He thought, It’s such a shame there are no varietal vinegars to go with these fantastic micro-batch olive oils.

Based on that experience and an appreciation for Virginia’s burgeoning wine industry, the Rostows have built their business on the centuriesold French craft of making artisanal vinegar from wine. Together they work with Virginia wineries to procure wines of all types and, over the course of several months, transform them into grape-specific vinegars that are astonishingly flavorful and powerful in the kitchen.

“We started at home about three years ago,” Steph continues. “We had big crocks of vinegar upstairs at our house, and as soon as you walked in…uggh…vinegar.” They both laugh and shake their heads. “It was a fragrant place,” Jay continues, “with lots of fruit flies. Then we decided we had to do it on a larger scale, and get it out of our house.” The science of vinegar production begins with alcohol and depends upon the introduction and nourishment of a single type of tiny bacteria that produces acetic acid, or vinegar. This bacteria is called acetobacter, from the Italian word aceto, meaning vinegar. To flourish, acetobacter requires temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees, sufficient oxygenation, and a liquid containing no more than 15 percent alcohol (Virginia wine usually tops out at about 14 percent).

As it changes alcohol to acetic acid, acetobacter gradually produces cellulose that floats in long threads throughout the vinegar-to-be and indicates the conversion is happening. Eventually this cellulose forms a membrane that covers the surface of the vinegar and protects and nourishes the acetobacter. For this reason, it’s called “mother of vinegar” or simply “mother”—and it’s a crucial part of the process. Every mother looks different, with a different color and varying thicknesses.

The Rostows check their vinegars regularly, and keep a notebook of detailed production notes organized by date. Each of six stainlesssteel vats is covered with a clean cotton bed sheet to keep out fruit flies and dust. Each vinegar has a distinct color and a heady scent all its own, filling the room when the sheet is folded back. “This is viognier,” says Steph as she takes a lungful of the floral white wine. “This one is just starting to make its mother.”

Steph and Jay spend the most time with the newest vinegars, the viognier and cabernet franc, excited about the metamorphosis. “This one has a very thick mother on it,” Jay says as he inclines his head over the next tank, which they started with cabernet franc on September 1 of last year. “We know it’s going to be medium in color and body, and spicy and peppery like the wine.”

As he prods the thick red mother and inhales the boozy aroma of the vinegar, Jay contrasts their small-scale, artisanal “batch” production process with that of mass-produced “commercial” vinegars. Commercial vinegars are turned out in a few days’ time through rapid heating, mechanical aeration, and dilution with water to achieve the legal level of acidity; they may also contain chemical flavor compounds and preservatives, both unnecessary in the Rostows’ vinegar.

Instead, their process involves adding more and more wine mixed with water (called stock) until the acidity in the tank rises to the level they want. Then they remove about half of it, put it away in an oak barrel for aging for four to six months, and add more stock to the active culture still in the tank, creating even more. In this way, it’s a process similar to that of making sourdough bread from a sourdough starter— each new batch is made with some reserved from a prior batch. This process—called the Orleans method—is anything but new, deriving its name from the French city in which it was perfected in the 17th century. The Rostows choose to practice this technique so that their vinegars become an expression of the environment and the local wine, as well as their vinegarmaking skills.

Jay turns to the next tank, pulls back the striped cloth, and then reaches in to poke the two-inch-thick, flesh-colored mother that forms a solid patch across the three-foot tank. “This is our sweet petit vinegar, made from a dessert wine of Petit Manseng and Gewürztraminer grapes,” he says as he deftly lifts and folds the entire spongy, rubbery mother to expose the 30 gallons of vinegar below. He pushes the thick mass of cellulose into a Tupperware pitcher to be dumped outside for compost. When he stirs the tank to encourage microbial activity, the vinegar bubbles slightly as if it were actually breathing. Then he joins Steph in the middle of the vinegar plant, where several oak barrels are filled with finished vinegar that will age before being pasteurized, filtered, bottled, and labeled.

Now they turn their attention to the special task of the day, which involves a mechanized filter system and a special batch of vinegar made from the gold-medal-winning 2004 Chardonnay Reserve wine from DelFosse Winery in Nelson County. With Steph assisting on the lifting and pouring, Jay dumps each glass carboy of aged Chardonnay Reserve vinegar into a five-gallon bucket. The cloudy golden liquid will be suctioned into a plastic tube and forced through several thicknesses of blotter paper, which removes small particulate matter and clarifies the appearance. Jay flicks the pump on and off, admiring the clarity and aroma of the finished vinegar as he directs the stream back into glass carboys and caps them for transport to DelFosse down the road, where they will be packaged and labeled as special DelFosse vinegars.

Steph spends most weekends pouring samples of her vinegar at either the Charlottesville or Nellysford farmers’ market. Her sales pitch is low-key and relaxed, as it is not difficult to sing the praises and enumerate the uses of artisan wine vinegar. The Rostows offer homegrown salad greens and cubed bread as vessels for tasting vinegar while discussing the different varietals and how they can be used to best advantage in the kitchen. “We didn’t know all that much about wine,” Steph allows, “so we got part-time jobs at a local winery. We learned a lot about grapes, how they taste, how they grow; and we participated in the harvest and with bottling. I think that really helped us to be able to describe the vinegar to people.”

Virginia Vinegar Works is currently offering three white-wine vinegars (chardonnay, viognier, and sweet petit) and one redwine vinegar, merlot. The chardonnay vinegar exhibits the wellknown buttery characteristics of the chardonnay grape and suggests pairings with full-flavored vegetables like beets, cheeses like chevre, and light meats such as rabbit or quail.

The lightest of their current selection is the sweet petit vinegar, which has a sweet fruit bouquet matched by a lingering, tangy finish. Steph likes to cook it on the stovetop over low heat until it reduces in volume and takes on a syrupy consistency, then she pours it over berries for a sweet-tangy summer dessert.

As one final means of quality control, the vinegarmakers pull a bottle of merlot vinegar from an open case, holding it up to the sunlight to admire the rich, ruby color, which has even stained the glass bottle. They open it and fill a small shot glass for each of them, swirling and sniffing and rolling the vinegar across their palates as though it were wine. When they finally swallow and begin discussing its characteristics, it sounds as if they are describing a wellcrafted Virginia merlot: inky, fruity, lively on the palate. “It’s good for you,” says Steph as she drains her shot. Its acidity and live bacteria content are said to improve digestion, blood acidity, and circulation. As the Virginia wine industry continues to grow and evolve, so too will the Virginia Vinegar Works product line. The vinegars directly reflect trends in winemaking, and each year will vary in the same way wine vintages do. And since wineries tend to sell the Rostows “overstock” wine, there is no guarantee they can get the same wine the following year.

As for the future? Jay is excited about the possibility of making some malt vinegar, sourcing the beer from one of the local breweries. He’ll also try using some rosé wine he obtained last fall. “It will be a fairly light vinegar,” he says, visualizing the end product. “It’ll look pretty in the bottle.” Built upon centuries of European vinegarmaking tradition, the Rostows’ craft is a winning combination of reverence for the past and innovation in the 21st century. While they might take their vinegar neat from a shot glass, its clear flavor and intense acidity can work alchemical magic in the kitchen when used with other locally produced foods. Yet another rich way to season a plate with the flavor of Central Virginia.

Lisa Reeder is a local-foods consultant in the Charlottesville area. For more information about Reeder’s food adventures, visit www.alocal notion.wordpress.com .

Photographer Sarah Cramer Shields, based in Charlottesville, focuses on the art of documentation. To see more of her work, go to www.cramerphoto.com .

WHERE TO FIND VIRGINIA VINEGAR WORKS…

Charlottesville/Albemarle
Charlottesville City Market
C’Ville Market
Feast!
Foods of All Nations
Greenwood Gourmet Grocery
Integral Yoga
Orzo Restaurant and Wine Bar
Rebecca’s Natural Food
The Virginia Shop
Lynchburg
Magnolia Foods
Nelson County
Basic Necessities
Nellysford Market
Orange County
Barboursville Vineyards
Scottsville
Country Blessings
Staunton
George Bowers Grocery
Zynodoa