# Substituting white wine vinegar for red wine vinegar - Need Answer Fast!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** wine
**Created:** [March 5, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624 "2011-03-05T22:35:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/1 "2011-03-05T22:35:28Z")
I’ve got a guest tonight, and want to make my favorite Shepherd’s (really Cottage) Pie recipe. It’s heavy on the allspice and usually uses red wine vinegar. Which, of course, I’m out of. It’s snowing out. [whine]I don’t \*wanna \*go back to the store.[/whine]
Can I get away with white wine vinegar instead? Any changes I should make to quantity? Add anything else like sugar?
[Here’s the basic recipe, iffen you’re interested](http://www.food.com/recipe/shepherds-pie-18513). I add peas and carrots to the meat mixture before it goes in the oven, and I’ve never figured out how she makes mashed potatoes with only 1T of milk, so that’s not exactly the same in my version, but the rest is the same.
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### Author:  [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/2 "2011-03-05T22:49:49Z")
White wine vinegar is a great substitute. Distilled white vinegar is a bit blah, though.
Just make sure you have the former.
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### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/3 "2011-03-05T22:52:23Z")
I’d do it, no sweat. If I had an open bottle of red wine, I might mix the two.
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### Author:  [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/4 "2011-03-05T23:06:41Z")
Yeah, distilled white vinegar will work. It just won’t have as much flavor. I’d use red wine instead, no vinegar.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/5 "2011-03-05T23:09:20Z")
What I have is white wine vinegar for sure, not distilled white vinegar. I do have a bottle of “Sweet Red” table wine I was going to open up anyhow, so maybe I’ll mix a little white wine vinegar with a little of that sweet red wine and see how it smells. Just sniffing the white wine vinegar, I’m a little leery that it might be too sharp on its own.
Thanks for the input, guys!
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### Author:  [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)
#### Post date: [March 5, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/substituting-white-wine-vinegar-for-red-wine-vinegar-need-answer-fast/573624/6 "2011-03-05T23:14:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> What I have is white wine vinegar for sure, not distilled white vinegar. I do have a bottle of “Sweet Red” table wine I was going to open up anyhow, so maybe I’ll mix a little white wine vinegar with a little of that sweet red wine and see how it smells. Just sniffing the white wine vinegar, I’m a little leery that it might be too sharp on its own.
>
> Thanks for the input, guys!
Don’t bother with the wine. The recipe is just looking for a shot of acidity, and the wine will dilute that. You absolutely will not notice a difference between 3TBSP of red and white wine vinegar in a shepherd’s pie recipe.