Mauzac 'Vin de Voile' Vinegar

In a nutshell: Superb oxidized vinegar made with Domain Plageoles famous 'Vin de Voile' Mauzac wine from the Gaillac region of southwest France.

We love Nathalie Lefort's brilliant new vinegar made with the famous Mauzac 'Vin de Voile' oxidized wine of Domaine Plageoles.

Since 1805, seven generations of the Plageoles family have produced wine in the Gaillac region of southwest France. Robert Plageoles began the journey of reviving 'lost' indigenous grape varieties, by searching for wild vines growing in the local Grésigne forest, to reintroduce them into their wine making. Today Bernard, and his sons, Florent and Romain, continue the work and make fascinating wines with seven different types of  of Mauzac, Ondenc Duras, Autan, Braucol, Verdanel and Prunelart. For the last 20 years, they have been making natural wines on the rich clay-limestone soil using no chemical fertilisers, herbicides, dry yeasts and without any chaptalisation (the practise of adding extra sugars to unfermented grape juice). All their vineyards are organically certified.

Mauzac roux is used to make the Vin de Voile wine. Left in oak barrels for 7 years  without topping up the part of the wine that evaporates over time. A ‘voile’ (layer of yeast) appears over the wine, resulting in a controlled oxidation. Acetified and aged for over five years in barrel, Nathalie's vinegar has a beautiful, nutty flavour, delicate and lean acidity and rich floral aroma. It has a glorious pale straw colour and flavour notes of pears, walnuts and herbs just like the original wine.

"This magnificent wine gave birth to a great vinegar. Profound and deep with aromas of ripe walnut that express themselves with delicacy!" Nathalie says of her latest creation.

How to use

• Try with pan-fried scallops or Dover sole.
• Great for adding depth of flavour to slow-cooked chicken and veal dishes.
• Drizzle over any bitter-leaf salads for some lovely nutty flavour.
• A very special vinegar to enhance all your dishes.
• The best vinegar for all kind of radicchio.

Details 500ml; 6° acidity, no sulfites.

About La Guinelle
We are proud to be the sole UK distributor for La Guinelle vinegars. These amazing vinegars are made by Nathalie Lefort in her charming open air vinaigrerie In Cosprons, a hillside village near Port-Vendres, overlooking the rocky Cote Vermeille coast close to Spain. Nathalie bought the small house at the end of a dusty lane in 1999 and soon after decided to revive the lost art of making artisan vinegar outdoors. Her philosophy is simple - " You need good wine to make great vinegar and you let nature do the rest." She uses the famous fortified red Banyuls dessert wine from local vineyards for her core vinegars, plus she also makes some limited production single grape varietal vinegars. Everything is done outdoors "en plein air", using an organic double fermentation process where the wines and vinegars are exposed to natural airborne bacteria in oak barrels for up to 8 months before further ageing in glass demijohns that are shaded from the sun. Discovered by top French chefs, we hope they will also find a spot in your kitchen as a great ingredient to add to favourite recipes, enhance many sauces, gravies and as a finishing ingredient used in the same way as a good quality extra virgin olive oil drizzled onto a dish.

Every year, Nathalie and her team only make about 10,000 bottles including some really interesting, and unique, single varietal and 'flavoured' vinegars which we will always endeavour to buy and stock before they run out.