Sherry vinegar

In the USA, to be called vinagre de Jerez, by law the sherry vinegar must undergo ageing in American oak for a minimum of six months, can only be aged within the "sherry triangle" and must have a minimum of 7 degrees acidity.

The only other vinegars with similar protected designation of origin are "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale" from Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy and "Condado de Huelva" and "Montilla-Moriles" in Spain.

The style of sherry vinegar depends mainly on the grape variety used to produce the wine it is made from.

In the sherry bodegas wines which had undergone acetic fermentation and turned to vinegar were considered failures, however since the 1950s winemakers started to view sherry vinegar as a product in its own right and now even encourage it.

Any barrels which have contained vinegar cannot be used to store wine again due to the risk of acetic fermentation.