Red Wine Vinegar

Test Date: August 2010


Tester: Michele


Products for this test purchased Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, and Trader Joe's.

MICHELE'S OPINION: I had no idea that these products would taste so different! But I guess that makes sense, since they're made from red wine, all brands of which do have very different tastes. Trader Joe's is going to be your cheapest bet, but Colavita is only about $0.30 more if you account for the different sizes. Read on for more details and the winners....

PRICE COMPARISON FOR 12OZ OF VINEGAR:
$3.11 Whole Foods Napa Valley
$2.69 Trader Joe's
$2.68 Whole Foods Colavita
$2.37 Fred Meyer Star Italian Kitchen
$2.07 Fred Meyer Private Selection
$2.02 Whole Foods Eden Selected

1. Private Selection Red Wine Vinegar:  Very acidic taste, not sweet and not much flavor besides acid.


2. Star Italian Kitchen Red Wine: Slightly sweeter flavor, but plastic-y and unnatural tasting.


3. Trader Joe's Red Wine Vinegar:  Medium acidity and very flavorful. The smoothest flavor of the bunch.


4. Napa Valley Natural Oak Aged California Organic Red Wine Vinegar: Tastes like a glass of wine with vinegar added, I can taste an oaky flavor and grape finish.


5. Eden Selected Red Wine Vinegar:  Tastes like you kid's grape juice with tons of vinegar in it.


6. Colavita Aged Red Wine Vinegar:  Tastes like a sweet wine with vinegar added. Nice flavor and you can tell it's higher end.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: Amazingly (I didn't think this was legal), neither the Private Selection nor the Star products have any nutritional information, so I guess I can't comment on those. For the other four products, the calorie, fat, and other nutritional information is almost nil or zero, so I guess it's not worth commenting on those either. These four products only contain red wine or red wine vinegar, except for the Napa Valley Naturals product, which interestingly also contains something called 'organic grape must', which according to several websites is a freshly pressed grape juice.



TASTE WINNER: Instead of winners, for this test I'd just say that Private Selection, Star, and Eden were the losers. All of the others had great flavor, albeit a little different.