If you’ve ever tasted wine that was left in an open bottle overnight from a dinner party or event, you’ve probably experienced the unpleasantly sour surprise. The wine has started to go bad, however, it’s transitioning into another culinary treat: vinegar.

With some patience, it’s entirely possible to produce vinegar from leftover wine at home, which makes sense when you consider that the term “vinaigre” in French translates to “sour wine”. The simplest way to do this is leaving an opened bottle of wine alone, allowing nature and oxygen to do their thing. All you need to do is maintain a moderately warm temperature – optimally between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, cover the top of the bottle with cheesecloth or muslin to keep insects out while allowing oxygen in, and the wine will start to ferment.

The transformation is due to acetobacter aceti, a naturally present bacteria that changes alcohol into acetic acid. But as fermentation scientist Dr. Johnny Drain suggests in his interview with Liquor.com, “You can let your wines to oxidize or acidify [become more acidic] spontaneously, but that can be a bit unpredictable.” To have more control over the process, you might want to add a small amount of raw or unpasteurized vinegar to your wine. This can help speed up the process and provide more consistent outcomes as you delve into the multiple different types of vinegar you can make at home.

For more information: French Cooking Tricks You Need In Your Life

Experimenting with aging wine to create vinegar is a wonderful way to avoid wasting a drink that is no longer fit for consumption. Moreover, homemade vinegar allows you to experience a wider variety of flavors, far beyond the typical options of red or white wine vinegar you usually encounter at the supermarket. Try creating a flavorful and sweet chardonnay vinegar to add to your salad, or concoct a deep, palette-pleasing vinegar using the distinctive color of orange wine.

Certain factors to consider when transforming your preferred wine into vinegar include the bottle’s alcohol content — any wine with an ABV higher than 11% may restrict the growth of vinegar bacteria. As a result, dilution with water might be necessary to reduce the alcohol content. It’s also interesting to recognize that high-sugar grape varieties such as riesling may surprisingly result in a more acidic vinegar. You can expect the unique notes carried by specific wines, like the richness of chardonnay and the mineral flavors of Albariño, to influence the respective vinegar flavors.

The fermentation process of your selected wine allows personal preference to play a significant part. After a few weeks, taste the developing vinegar, and if satisfied, filter and keep it in a sanitized glass container.

Once you venture into the world of homemade vinegar using leftover wine, you might notice a turbid substance present in your batch. Known as the “mother,” this element is highly valued and can often be seen in store-bought apple cider vinegar. The mother facilitates the ongoing production of vinegar at home, so even if it’s sparse or feeble initially, don’t stress. You can always acquire a vinegar starter online or use raw vinegar as an alternative until the mother fully develops.

When you’ve finished straining your vinegar, set some aside, including the mother. This reserved portion can serve as a jumpstart to your next vinegar fermentation process, or you may decide to venture into the creation of “infinite” vinegar. For this, all you require is a spacious container for sufficient oxygen and leftover wine which you can pour in while awaiting fermentation before extracting more vinegar. The resulting vinegar won’t embody the specific characteristics of a vinegar produced from one type of wine, but the varying complexity and flavor of every wine you employ.

For further details, check out the original article on Daily Meal.