From winery error to culinary treasure: the journey of sherry vinegar

Have you ever wondered how sherry vinegar is made?  Euronews went to Spain's Andalusia region at Jerez de la Fontera to pull back the curtain on the secrets of this unique ingredient.

Discovered by accident during the winemaking process, it has become an essential condiment in haute cuisine!

Spain is home to three of the five European vinegars safeguarded by the Protected Designation of Origin label. Sherry vinegar or, " Vinegar of Xerés", is produced in the south of Spain Cádiz and Seville.

This vinegar originates from the noble wines of Jerez and its unique 'terroir'. The chalky landscape plays an essential role in the cultivation of the vines. Manuel Delgado is in charge of these impressive González Byass vineyards.

"This Albariza soil is a calcareous soil that has a tremendous water retention capacity, which means that, in the winter months when it rains, it captures all the water and acts as our irrigation system," Delgado explains.

This hot and dry landscape is home to a resistant grape variety.

"Palomino is the main grape variety because it has been in the area for more than 3,000 years and gives very good characteristics to wines and vinegars. Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel are mainly used for sweet wines and also to sweeten vinegar," he says.

For years, the ‘sour wine’ was a source of shame for Xerés wineries. Bacteria transformed the alcohol into acetic acid during the elaboration process.

Today however, is a liquid treasure.

I visit the first winery that dared to commercialise the vinegar. It was Antonio Páez, the grandfather of vinegar-maker Esperanza Ramírez, who came up with the idea in the 1940s.

As we walked though the cellar, we could smell the strong scent of wood and vinegar from the fermentation process, unique to