I enjoy a fine vinegar as much as a fine wine.......................

At the turn of the century, the French city of Orleans (also home to Joan of Arc's birthplace) was home to more than 300 vinegar producers. Today, alas there is only one, Martin Pouret, a company that refuses to abandon traditional methods

 The location of Orleans as the Loire River port closest to Paris ( because of the winds on the Loire), the shipping boats could not go any further into Paris and so this city - it is about 70 miles south-southwest of the capital - that led to its vinegar production in the Middle Ages. 

 Wine that spoiled on the trip ( up the river from the French coast) was left at Orleans, and instead of discarding it, the Orleanais made it into vinegar. A vinegar merchants' corporation was founded in 1394; production methods had been defined by 1580. An explanation of the process was eventually provided by Louis Pasteur, who discovered that the fermentation of wine into vinegar was caused by a bacterium.

 Because Salt (used as a preservative) became so expensive and was highly taxed, people found that vinegar could also be used as a good preservative. 

It takes three weeks for wine to develop into vinegar by the traditional Orleans method. It is then aged in oak for six months. The industrial methods used to produce most vinegar can convert 30,000 liters of wine into vinegar in 24 hours. Unlike the industrial method, the Orleans process does not require heating, thus preserving more flavor of the wine. ''We want to capture the quality of the wine,'' Mr. Martin said and unlike what most people think, is that good vinegar can only be made from good wine, not cheap wine...

 Come and visit the last remaining vinegar house and meet up with the local guide, Bertrand Deshayes who will take you through the history and complex producing of a fine vinegar.