Vinegar from Glles, Austria

[Saina Nieminen]

Has anyone here used the vinegars of Glles, from Austria? They make dozens of vinegars and a number of brandies. I got to try a few vinegars this week and was quite surprised. First of all, I was surprised that the vinegars were so awesome when I tried a couple drops from a spoon; second of all I was surprised, since I thought that vinegars would blend into the food, that a wine wanking approach seemed so fruitful. Do the differences in these vinegars really make such a difference when put to their actual use?

I tried the Schilcher ros from the Blauer Wilbacher grape (awesome acidity, just like with the wine, so I ended up buying this one), beer, tomato, apple, pear, Zweigelt, apricot, cherry and balsamiccs. All were very pure examples of the fruit/grape/grain. The XA apple balsamic, aged for 20 years thick like a PX sherry except not at all so sweet. These vinegars, when tasting just a couple drops from a spoon, seemed more like liquids I would like to drink than actual vinegar, yet they did have the sharpness that vinegar needs to work.

So, though I was hugely impressed by how pure these vinegars were in showing their agricultural origins, do these make a great difference when used in the kitchen?

 

[Kay Bixler]

originally posted by Otto Nieminen:
So, though I was hugely impressed by how pure these vinegars were in showing their agricultural origins, do these make a great difference when used in the kitchen?

Can't answer that. But there was a brief vinegar tasting trend in New York City a few years ago. People were allegedly drinking small flights of them at hipster bars.

 

[Rahsaan]

I don't know about the vinegars, but I've enjoyed many of the different schnapps from Glles. But sounds interesting.

 

[twlim]

Well, I can't speak for these specific vinegars, but my wife and I make vinegars from a lot of leftover wines. The vinegars come out very differently, and we find the differences are quite perceptible in uses such as dressing salads, and, to a lesser degree, when we use them to finish sauces etc.

In short, yes.

 

[Eden Mylunsch]

I'm a big fan of the vinegars and schnapps made at Glles. http://www.goelles.at/ Alois is a cool guy too, very proud of his new hotel (I don't think that they've installed the in-room vinegar spigots yet) and very generous when it comes to fine Cuban cigars.

Here's a photo of the entrance to the Glles distillery:

He makes his apple balsamic available in a spray bottle. It works well as a finishing vinegar with pork or to mist over salads. I use the other flavors as components of marinades or just drink them on hot days with some soda (had something very similar at Pok-Pok in Portland the other day).

The apple balsamic is probably the most usable vinegar in cooking, although the other flavors are fun to play around with in salad dressings and marinades. For tasting purposes, I think the tomato is one of the most remarkable things you can legally ingest. The beer vinegar strikes me as more of a novelty, and I suspect that the Blauer Wilbacher vinegar is sold only from under the table to people who can present a certificate that they can deal with the high acidity. I visited the distillery a few months ago and it wasn't offered to our group to taste, and we'd enjoyed (survived?) a Schilcher tasting the day before where we assayed about 18 of them before lunch. I'd never heard of Schilcher before and now I'm considered an expert by the other two people of my acquaintance who've at least heard of it.

Glles also runs a hotel in Riegersberg called the Genusshotel. I got a photo of the in-room honor-bar:

-Eden (the Glles TBA vinegar made in conjunction with Kracher is some awe-inspiring stuff - it was after a spoonful of the TBA vinegar that not only did Willie Dixon write "Spoonful" -a big hit in Austria for Vic Damone- but he was inspired to pen "it can heal the sick, raise the dead, make little girls talk outta their head"...I don't know what it means, but I agree whole-heartedly)

 

[Saina Nieminen]

Ok, I've been experimenting with these vinegars a bit more, and as twlim states, they do seem to make quite a difference. Eden, thanks for the reply! The tomato was, indeed, wonderful. If it weren't so expensive I would have bought some. The beer vinegar actually worked pretty well when we tried it with some proper sausages - the maltiness worked like a good beer except with more bite to it!

They make a wonderful pumpkin seed oil, too. Might have to buy some of that, too. Sadly, I don't think the distillates are available here.

 

[georg lauer]

I have not had the Goelles products, but it sounds a bit similar to what Gegenbauer does in Vienna. www.gegenbauer.at
And I can confirm that these vinegars really make a difference, not only in your wallet, but also on the table. Even the more basic ones are almost too good for salads, though they make a very nice vinaigrette. In general the acidity is not as aggressive as in other vinegars and the flavor of the fruit or wines used comes through very clear. I especially love their Quince, both regular and balsamic style (which has nothing to do with the cloying stuff that more and more is offered as standard Balsamico). I am not sure about Goelles, but Gegenbauer also at least used to have an US importer ( Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge carried it, but not anymore).