A Sip of WineSpirit #181
By Don Corson
What Can Wine and Vinegar Teach About Relationships?
A friend of mine wanted to make her own vinegar, and I gave her a keg of barrel-topping wine to work with. She had done her research and had gotten just the right “mother” bacteria, and, in a few weeks, she came back with her first product. It was great! I have since given her an older barrel to work with and she has ramped up production and is even selling it at local farmers markets.
The best vinegars are essentially flavor opposites of the best wines, but not necessarily in a bad way, I’ve experienced. Vinegar’s edgy tang is about as opposite to wine’s round smoothness as you can get. A whiff of vinegar will push your head back, but a sniff of wine will draw you closer. Both provide that aromatic and flavor edge that just can’t be duplicated in cooking or eating. They complement each other.
I’ve mused that wine and vinegar might not think of each other as “complements”, though, nor would they like each other much if they had the chance to meet. They are too opposite. But anyone else in the room might really like the conversation. Upon further thought, though, maybe if great vinegars and wines were actually able to talk together, wine would begin to think of vinegar as something other than “spoiled” wine. Vinegar might even begin to think of wine as not just potential vinegar. Despite their differences, they might find much in common, especially over a well prepared meal where the best attributes of both could be there for the other to savor.
Come to think of it, my vinegar-making friend and I are pretty different, too. After all, I work hard to keep my wine from turning to “vinegar”. Winemakers are like that. She has a different palate than mine. She’s a dog person. I like my cat. It wasn’t my intention to be a part of making something so different than wine, but in the hands of my friend, as different as we are, it’s turning out just fine. I don’t know that a winemaker should be proud to have his wine made into vinegar, but I sort of am, and I am glad it’s turning out so well. Vive la difference!
REFLECTION QUESTIONS FOR SIPPIN’:
- When were you surprised to find opposites complementing each other?
- How ironic is it that good wine can generate good vinegar?
- What dynamically different characteristics enrich your relationships?
- (Raise your own question… as you are invited to do in Sippin’ on Top of the World)
