QUICK TREATMENTS: Expiring Wine
WINE only
Make ice-cubed wine in the freezer
“Put the last bit of wine in an ice cube tray (as long as the wine hasn’t turned to vinegar yet.)” (Amy Sherman, recipe developer, San Francisco)
Artisanal vinegar from days old wine
Some bottles of red wine might have as little as half an inch remaining; or it might be half a bottle. I combine these ends of wine until I have full bottles and then let them sit corked until I make a batch.
I’ve heard stories of people using little crocks. I still have this really small barrel which holds 6 or 7 bottles of wine. But a barrel works very well. Drill holes and lay it on its side. Cover the holes with cheesecloth to keep the red wine inside undisturbed – 3 months minimum – while the bacteria does its work.
To get the process going you’ll need some live vinegar to start the whole process. You can get a bottle from someone making vinegar. There are places that sell “live” vinegar (vinegar cultures) and barrels for wine-making. The way I started was to have a bottle where the vinegar was already developing. It was alive, or it came back to life (if it was once homogenized). This is all romantic and great. But really, a vinegar starter is not so important. What’s important is what wine is used.
“If you put wine into a barrel – it might turn to vinegar … or might not. Mine has always worked (and I don’t like adding wine to a vinegar bottle). What happens sometimes is that you might get an off flavor from a different type of bacteria. When you’re fermenting anything, you let what’s natural in the air take over. Just think about this: vinegar is something to be feared if you’re a winemaker. Vineyards will keep their vinegars in another building.
Wine turns into vinegar rather quickly and then you can decant it. If you have a full barrel, decant it with a siphon. Siphoning out the vinegar into a bottle it and put a cork into it – save it for a few months. Leave a little vinegar left over.
So if you make vinegar yourself, you will find that you can use much less when you’re cooking. For one, it’ll be stronger. Your vinaigrette will have an oilier consistency. Also, every batch is different. I have a batch from 20 years ago. Aging changes it. Like old wine, old vinegar is smoother.” (Russell Moore, chef/owner of Camino Restaurant, Oakland California)
WINE & CHEESE
Red-Wine cheese bread
“Four to six month ago we started making our own homemade breads. The flavors change continuously; we haven’t had a repeat yet. And we’ll get inspired by recipes or by remnants we have here. For example, we’ll take the small unusable pieces from big blocks of cheese (maybe ¼ cup white cheddar, goat cheese or fontina). And we’ll take any red wine – cab, pinot noir, a red blend – that’s become un-servable after 3-4 days. (You can tell which wines are past their prime because there’s a big bite in your mouth: it’s a little bitter, vinegary.) And we’ll incorporate those flavors in this rather mild bread with a nice white cheese. The bread becomes more moist because of the wine, and you can taste the flavor of the wine. When we serve it we like to tell customers to look out for these flavors.” (Chef Jodi Janisse, Café Soeurette, Milwaukee)
