6 White Wine Vinegar Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

There are some ingredients that just about every home cook should have on hand (including beginners). And white wine vinegar, which is one of many types of vinegar, is one of them. It has so many versatile uses, whether you want to drizzle some onto a salad for an acidic punch, stir it into a soup to add some brightness and liveliness, or use it to deglaze a pan for some extra flavor in your dish. In many cases, it can function as a great alternative for white vinegar, which is more acidic and lacks the flavorful fruitiness you get in the white wine variety.

But when you go to the grocery store, you'll likely notice that there are different white wine vinegar brands to choose from. How do you know which is best? I've taste-tested six different brands to help you decide which one will work best for your next recipe. By ranking them worst to best, I hope to give you a better sense of which brands are worth seeking out. The main criterion for this ranking is flavor, and I ranked the varieties with the most pronounced fruity qualities highest on the list. Let's take a closer look at these white wine vinegars.

If you're looking for a budget-friendly bottle of white wine vinegar, then Signature Select's White Wine Vinegar may be the way to go. It's available at an affordable price point, which is great when you need a tiny splash for a specific recipe. But if you actually want your white wine vinegar to impart a lot of fruity flavor in your dish, then this is not the variety to get.

Unfortunately, this tastes quite watery, and it doesn't have the flavor concentration I'm looking for in a white wine vinegar. If anything, I think this tastes more like plain white vinegar than anything, although it does have a hint of the fruitiness you should expect from this ingredient. While it's not a terrible option if white wine vinegar isn't an ingredient you use too often, this is still my least favorite brand in the bunch.

Pompeian Gourmet White Wine Vinegar is another brand that doesn't taste fruity at all. Admittedly, I could taste that grape-y note a lot more in this brand than I could in the Signature Select version, but it still has considerably less flavor than any of the other brands on this list. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, but why pay for white wine vinegar when it doesn't impart that flavor complexity you're looking for in a dish?

I also found this variety of white wine vinegar to be very, very strong, which is definitely a step up from watery, but still doesn't yield a pleasant flavor profile. I'm not sure if that boldness is due to the lack of fruity notes, but regardless, it makes for a less pleasant finished dish, no matter what recipe you're following. It's not the absolute worst option, but if you can, you should probably seek out one of the better-ranked vinegars on this list.

Now, we're finally starting to get into the white wine vinegars that have a bit more flavor to them. One thing I love about Filippo Berio White Wine Vinegar is the fact that it's so, so fruity. It actually tastes like super-concentrated unripe grape juice, which can be a nice touch to a wide variety of dishes. So, why doesn't it rank higher on this list? 

It mostly comes down to the fact that it doesn't have quite the same degree of complexity as the other varieties here. Instead of this vinegar tasting like actual wine, it has more of a pure grape note to it. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you want a lighter, brighter, and simpler flavor profile, but it's not ideal if you do want that extra complexity in your dish.

I could tell the difference between this variety and the higher-ranked white wine vinegars on this list because I tasted them all side by side, though. If you taste this stuff on its own, you'll probably find that it's satisfactory enough to function well in about any recipe.

For a standard, versatile, and delicious white wine vinegar option, 365 White Wine Vinegar is a solid choice. Whole Foods' store brand products generally tend to be pretty high quality, and that definitely holds true in this case. This is going to be suitable for just about anything you'd need white wine vinegar for. Its acidity is pronounced, but it's not so overwhelming that it'll have you wrinkling your nose after taking a whiff. There's some fruitiness too, but it also actually tastes like white wine — not just especially acidic grape juice.

This variety doesn't have quite as much character as some of the others listed here, but sometimes, that can be a good thing. When you're looking for a more neutral flavor profile, for example, this works well. It's not the best of the bunch, but it's a great selection if you're on the hunt for your go-to white wine vinegar. Make sure to check out these other products to buy your first time at Whole Foods.

Now, for those who want something a little bit more elevated for inclusion in their salads and other vinegar-forward applications, Madhava Organic White Wine Vinegar is going to be a better choice than most. It's one of the only brands on this list that actually informs you what grape this vinegar is made out of: Catarratto. The grapes come from Sicily (a region that also makes incredible wine), and the company prides itself on the vinegar's supposed purity, thanks to its certification from the Clean Label Project.

This vinegar really has it all. You can taste that fruitiness front and center, but there's also the complexity you might expect from wine. It tastes clean and unfussy, but not boring or watery, so it's guaranteed to add a pop of powerful flavor to your dishes. And while the packaging isn't super important once you actually start eating the food you make with this vinegar, it's also bottled beautifully, making you want to grab for it whenever you need a splash of acidity in your dishes.

We've reached the very best white wine vinegar of the bunch, and it's none other than American Vinegar Works Better Than Champagne Chardonnay Wine Vinegar. This is so good that it defies the laws of vinegar. Not only am I sure that this tastes amazing in a variety of vinegar-forward recipes, but it's so delicious that I actually enjoyed sipping it all on its own. (Don't judge it until you try it for yourself.) If you're familiar with the way chardonnay tastes, then you'll probably pick up on those recognizable chardonnay notes within the product. It has an incredible complexity, with that fruitiness shining through, but also a subtle layer of nuttiness that immediately makes anything it touches more interesting. This might be thanks to the fact that the wine is aged in American oak.

Although it's one of the pricier options on this list, I absolutely think this is worth it if you tend to use a lot of white wine vinegar at home. Once you taste how interesting and complex white wine vinegar can be, you'll never want to go back to the basic, boring brands ever again.

I selected these white wine vinegar brands based on availability at local grocery stores in my area. I tried all of these wines by themselves, first smelling them and then sipping them to better understand both their aromas and flavors. The main criterion I used for this ranking was flavor. In particular, the highest-ranked vinegars of the bunch had both fruitiness and complexity. Those that were lacking in one or both of those categories tended toward the lower end of the ranking.