Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Vinegar. Heirloom cider apples, two years in oak barrels, mellowed by age.

Apple Vinegar from Styria’s Vulkanland: a light fruit vinegar made from heirloom cider apple varieties, with 5 percent acidity and at least two years of barrel aging. No balsamic vinegar, no diluted household vinegar, no vinegar made from concentrate.

Apple Vinegar is a Styrian fruit vinegar made by Gölles from heirloom Maschansker, Rosenapfel, and Bohnapfel varieties. A bowl of leafy salad, dark green pumpkin seed oil on the side, and a bottle of light apple vinegar. This is what everyday dining looks like in Styria. When you open the bottle, you first taste ripe apple, without the sharp bite of many supermarket vinegars.

Mellowed by age rather than dilution

Gölles Apple Vinegar tastes fruity and lively, yet its 5 percent acidity feels mellow. This is due to at least two years of barrel aging, which softens the acidity’s edge. The manufacturer lists apple as the primary aroma, followed by white peach and poppy blossom.

On the palate, it is clear and straightforward. It does not overpower but enhances the ingredients it encounters. Compared with young apple vinegars, it is particularly noticeable how little it stings the throat.

Anyone expecting a vinegar with its own sweetness and syrupy consistency is actually looking for a balsamic vinegar. The dark apple balsamic vinegar with ten years of barrel aging from the same house is made for that. Apple Vinegar is the everyday vinegar for dressing, seasoning, and cooking.

Pumpkin seed oil, goulash soup, and Tafelspitz

Apple Vinegar is the classic partner of Styrian pumpkin seed oil and works according to a simple rule. Gölles recommends two to three parts oil to one part vinegar, plus salt and spices. The leaves should be thoroughly dried, and water or sugar should not be added to the dressing.

Add the vinegar to warm potato salad while the potatoes are still steaming so they can absorb it. Stir a tablespoon into goulash soup just before serving. Apple vinegar also complements Tafelspitz with apple horseradish, which you can season with a splash of vinegar.

Kren is the Austrian word for horseradish. To make apple horseradish, finely grate a tart apple and fresh horseradish, then add salt and a teaspoon of Apple Vinegar. The vinegar prevents the apple from browning and brings together the two kinds of sharpness.

Our tip: For grated carrot salad with apple, it is better than wine vinegar because fruit complements fruit. Anyone looking for a more neutral vinegar for cucumber or cabbage salad should choose the light barrel-aged white wine vinegar.

Maschansker, Bohnapfel, and a barrel cellar in Riegersburg

The apples for this vinegar are heirloom cider varieties that are rarely grown for eating. They are tart, rich in tannins, and relatively low in sugar. That is exactly what makes them ideal for a characterful vinegar.

One part comes from around ten hectares of the company’s own orchards around Riegersburg in Styria’s Vulkanland, while the rest comes from local farmers. The apples are harvested in October. The juice is first fermented into cider, then vinegar bacteria convert the alcohol into acetic acid.

Only then does the vinegar go into the barrel, in what the company says is Austria’s largest vinegar barrel cellar, with around 1,500 oak barrels. No flavorings, colorings, or sulfites are added. A light sediment in the bottle is therefore not a defect, but an indication of its natural state.

The everyday vinegar from Styria

What sets Apple Vinegar apart is the combination of heirloom varieties and long barrel aging in an everyday vinegar. Two years is an unusually long time for a table vinegar. The 500-ml bottle is designed for regular use and is best kept right next to the oil. An opened bottle does not need to be refrigerated; a dark place is sufficient.

Paired with a bottle of pumpkin seed oil, it makes a quintessentially Styrian gift for anyone who enjoys dressing salads. It is not suitable for desserts or drizzling over cheese, where a balsamic vinegar can better showcase its strengths.

An honest apple vinegar that tastes of ripe cider apples and shows why Styria takes salad so seriously.