What Is Champagne Vinegar? Plus Easy Champagne Vinaigrette

Because it’s so mellow, champagne vinegar shines brightest as a supporting player: douse a pile of little gems, watercress, and frisee with a light salad dressing, add a tablespoon to your tomato sauce or hollandaise to give it a little kick, or use ¼ cup of it to deglaze your pan before a low-and-slow braise.

Quick pickles start with farmers’ market vegetables and a brine of vinegar, water, salt, sugar, herbs, and spices. They can be kept in the refrigerator for a month. Whichever vegetables you choose, cut them into uniform sizes for even pickling. Use champagne vinegar for its neutral flavor and ability to marry into the brine.

Though you can pretty much swap any type of vinegar for another (with certain limits depending on flavors and texture—thick, redolent traditional balsamic vinegar shouldn’t be cooked, for example), champagne vinegar lives on the lighter end of the spectrum, so it’s best to start there when substituting. Asian rice vinegar is a good substitute, as is white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar, even though it’s a touch harsher. Red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar can work, but they're doing to be less sweet and much more flavorful and colorful.