Pedro Ximénez vinegar

Vinaigre de Pedro Ximénez

What it is

Pedro Ximénez grapes are laid out in the sun for one to three weeks before pressing — the asoleo — which raisins them and pushes the sugar far past what fermentation can consume. The vinegar made from that wine keeps the leftover sweetness, so it behaves like a finished reduction straight from the bottle rather than like an acid.

In the kitchen

Use it where you would otherwise spend twenty minutes reducing a sweet wine: a tablespoon into the pan off the heat after searing foie gras, duck or calf's liver. Do not build a vinaigrette on it neat — cut it half and half with sherry vinegar or the dressing turns cloying.

Goes with

Foie gras Venison Manchego Fig Raisin Duck

Same species

Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP Amontillado Armagnac Banyuls Brandy de Jerez Champagne vinegar

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