Sour Power

Varietal Vinegars Redefine Wine

By Warren Rojas

Photography by Hana Jung

Vinegar visionaries Claudia Nami and Susan Lewis don’t just love turning good wine, they’ve just about perfected the process.

They ferment and age their homegrown grapes and black currants (an antioxidant- and vitamin-rich partner) for roughly two years before bottling, a loving process that yields robust, gourmet vinegars (the black merlot delivers bright fruit and some serious acid).

The duo plans on releasing their cabernet sauvignon, syrah and gewurztraminer varieties this spring, with their chardonnay to follow by summer. And they are already working on tomato and honey vinegars tentatively set to debut later this fall.

Dragonfly’s wine vinegars are available for purchase at the Falls Church Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings), select Whole Foods or online (www.dragonflyvinegary.com). For ideas on how to incorporate the signature vinegars into everyday cooking, check Dragonfly’s online recipes (www.dffarms.com).

(April 2008)

Tags: Chew on this, relish, vinegar