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Vinegar from Jerez area, Cádiz and Seville provinces, Andalusia, Spain

Vinagre de Jerez (sherry vinegar)Vinagre de Jerez

Vinagre de Jerez is a protected wine vinegar made only from wines of the sherry area. The wine is first dosed with old vinegar, then soured by acetic bacteria, either in industrial acetifiers or in the same wooden cask where it will age. It then matures in wooden casks previously used for wine, usually in a criaderas y solera system, for at least six months, two years for Reserva and ten years for Gran Reserva.

Fully documentedVinegar6 monthsPDO (EU No PDO-ES-0723)Family: Orléans method (slow surface vinegar)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe PDO specification fixes the raw material, the steps and the minimum ageing, but no batch size or dosing amounts beyond the 1° acetic acid starting mix.
Suitable wine from the sherry production areaWines of the same year or mature wines, made under the Jerez and Manzanilla-Sanlúcar rules[jerez-pdo]
Vinegar from the producer's own stockAdded on arrival to bring the mix to at least 1° acetic acid[jerez-pdo]
Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel wine, or must of very ripe or sun-baked grapes of those varieties with neutral vinous alcohol added (sweet types only)For Vinagre de Jerez al Pedro Ximénez and al Moscatel[jerez-pdo]
Startervinegar from the cellar's own stock (back-slopping); acetic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months

Start
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What changes: Old vinegar goes into the incoming sherry wine

Step 1 of 5
Receive suitable wine and denature it with old vinegar
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Every consignment of suitable wine is mixed with vinegar from the cellar's own stock on arrival [jerez-pdo]. Output: partly acetified wine.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Vinagre de Jerez is a protected wine vinegar made only from wines of the sherry area. The wine is first dosed with old vinegar, then soured by acetic bacteria, either in industrial acetifiers or in the same wooden cask where it will age. It then matures in wooden casks previously used for wine, usually in a criaderas y solera system, for at least six months, two years for Reserva and ten years for Gran Reserva. Made in 5 steps over 6 months. The longest step, age in wine casks by criaderas y solera or añadas, takes at least 6 months (European Commission 2020).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 monthsSet[jerez-pdo]Age in wine casks by criaderas y solera or añadas
AciditypH 1.9–2.4Measured[gonzalez2021]Check and bottle

What makes this one different

Unlike plain wine vinegar, Vinagre de Jerez may only use wines from the sherry area, must be dosed with old vinegar on arrival and must age in wooden casks previously used for wine, of at most 1 000 litres, mostly in a criaderas y solera system [jerez-pdo]. It may keep residual alcohol of up to 3 % by volume, and its total acetic acid must be at least 70 grams/litre, or at least 80 grams/litre for Gran Reserva [jerez-pdo].

Related ferments

Variants

  • Reserva and Gran ReservaAverage age at least two years and at least 10 years [jerez-pdo].
  • Añada (vintage)All from one year, never blended with older vinegar, at least two years old [jerez-pdo].
  • Al Pedro Ximénez, al Moscatel and DulceSemi-sweet with added Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel wine, or must of very ripe or sun-baked grapes of those varieties with neutral vinous alcohol added; Dulce has at least 150 grams/litre of reducing substances [jerez-pdo].

Safety

The specification sets the limits on the finished vinegar. Total acetic acid must be at least 70 grams/litre (60 for sweet and semi-sweet types, 80 for Gran Reserva), residual alcohol at most 3 % by volume (4 % for sweet and semi-sweet types) and sulphate at most 3.5 grams/litre [jerez-pdo].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The criaderas y solera system dates from the 17th century, and American oak casks came in through the trade from Cádiz and Seville to the Americas [jerez-pdo]. The specification says wine and vinegar making in the Jerez district goes back to Phoenician times [jerez-pdo]. The amended PDO specification was published as an application in 2020 [jerez-pdo] and approved by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1717 of 11 November 2020 [jerez-reg].

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [jerez-pdo] European Commission 2020, Publication of an application for approval of an amendment to the product specification, 'Vinagre de Jerez', EU No PDO-ES-0723-AM01, with the single document, Official Journal of the European Union C 238/16 (20.7.2020)spec
  2. [jerez-reg] European Commission 2020, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1717 of 11 November 2020 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for 'Vinagre de Jerez' (PDO), Official Journal of the European Union L 386/3 (18.11.2020)spec
  3. [uysal2025] Uysal R.S., Issa-Issa H., Carbonell-Barrachina A.A., Sendra E. 2025, Exploring Ultrasound and Microwave-Assisted Accelerated Aging of Jerez Vinegar, Foods 14(21):3665, doi:10.3390/foods14213665paper
  4. [gonzalez2021] González-Domínguez R., Sayago A., Fernández-Recamales Á. 2021, Potential of ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy for the differentiation of Spanish vinegars according to the geographical origin and the prediction of their functional properties, Foods 10(8):1830, doi:10.3390/foods10081830paper