Aceto

Vinegar is produced by a bacteria called acetobacteri aceti which turns alcohol into acetic acid. A lot of oxygen is needed to aid this process, which is why a bottle of low-alcohol wine left open turns quite quickly into vinegar. In Italy a good vinegar has, by law, to have a minimum of 6% acetic acid and a maximum of 1.5% alcohol residue. Vinegar can also be produced using a colony of bacterial fungi, called a mother, which looks like a gelatinous mass and builds up on the bottom of vinegar-making containers.