The history of the salad and its countless dressings dates back many centuries.
Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Babylonians used oil and vinegar for dressing greens while the Egyptians favored a salad dressed with oil, vinegar and Asian spices.
In more recent times, in 19th-century Greece, the ingredients of a Greek salad resembled those that a Greek farmer would have on hand. As a result, it’s often thought that Greek salad was a farmer’s breakfast or lunch and grew in popularity from that origin.
The authentic Greek salad, or what’s called ‘Horiatiki,’ which means village or peasant salad – is basically a combination of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, olives and feta cheese, dressed in olive oil and sprinkled with oregano.
In Italy, you won’t find abundant bottled salad dressings because Italians have long favored a simple mix of olive oil, vinegar and salt.
As far as vinegar, regular red or white wine vinegars are most common. However, balsamic vinegar, originating from the regions surrounding the cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, are rising in popularity today.
Unfortunately, what originated years ago with robust olive oils and vinegars produced from local farmers has now evolved into mass-produced, overly-processed salad dressings that can compromise your health.
Why You Should Avoid Most Commercial Salad Dressings
Whether you’re eating a salad on a regular basis to complement a ketogenic diet with healthy fats or simply delighting in leafy green salads for optimal health, organic is clearly the best approach.
Fresh organic vegetables are tastier and better for you as well.
However, be aware… even if you go all organic and add healthy fats like avocados, olives and raw nuts to your salad, you could be jeopardizing your good intentions if you drizzle on a highly processed or low-fat salad dressing.
The vast majority of commercial salad dressings are far from good for your overall well-being. Most are full of high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats and highly processed omega-6 GMO oils full of toxic herbicides, like glyphosate.
Low-fat dressings should also be avoided. When fat is removed from a food product, it's usually replaced by sugar/fructose in order to maintain its good flavor.
Instead, look to the Greeks and Italians to find the heartiest salad dressings and more.
How Wine Vinegar Can Do More Than Dress Up a Salad
In addition to enhancing the savory taste of salads, different types of vinegars can enrich the flavor of vegetables and other culinary dishes.
Vinegars, such as red and white wine vinegars, are not only great dressings for salads but are also valuable for marinating and tenderizing your favorite proteins.
Red wine vinegar is directly derived from red wine – once the alcohol begins to turn into vinegar, it loses much of its alcoholic content. The increase in vinegar gives red wine vinegar an ideal level of acidity, which can help tenderize meat and provide a unique flavor to many dishes.
White wine vinegar can be excellent when used as a salad dressing and to marinate meats as well.
Many consider white wine vinegar to have an advantage over red wine vinegar. This is mainly because white wine vinegar does not impart color, which can make it more appropriate for seasoning pan sauces and soups, or for pickling vegetables.
Unfortunately, not all red and white vinegars are created equal and can offer you optimal savory taste and culinary benefits.
Over time, scientific advances have pushed the envelope in producing wine vinegars on very large scales. Instead of using more traditional processes over hundreds of years in Greece, this type of large-scale production has often sacrificed quality.
Balsamic Vinegar – A Lesson in Out-of-Control Production Growth
The term “balsamic” for the lightly tart and sweet vinegar comes from the Italian name, aceto balsamico, in which balsamico refers to something with healing or restorative power, almost like an elixir.
Unlike most European vinegars, balsamic vinegar is not made directly from wine but from grape must, a concentrated syrup made from boiled down grape juice.
Balsamic vinegar is a deep brown vinegar known for having distinctive, bold and complex flavors as well as a tart aftertaste.
As is the case with red and white wine vinegars, not all balsamic vinegars are created equal in overall quality and taste.
The accelerated production growth of balsamic vinegar over time has led to over-industrialized processing. From 1987 through 2002, production of balsamic vinegar grew from about 3,000 to 100,000 bottles.
In many cases, pain-staking traditional processes that have yielded the most consistent quality and taste have been slowly diminishing.
How to Recognize the Finest Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is a popular fermented food highly regarded for its many culinary-enhancing properties. Similar to other vinegars, apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid that gives it a distinctive sour taste.
You can quickly recognize organic, raw, unfiltered and unprocessed apple cider vinegar by the evident presence of the “mother” – the dark, strand-like chains of cloudy, enzyme-rich probiotic bacteria found floating at the bottom of the bottle. If you have a bottle of apple cider vinegar in your pantry, you most likely already know how valuable this particular staple can be.
With many varieties available out there, finding a high-quality apple cider vinegar can be a challenge.
The dark, cloudy strands found at the bottom of a bottle of apple cider vinegar indicate that it is not pasteurized or filtered, which means it likely won’t be available at many local grocery stores.
What’s the Key to Olive Oil’s Reported Benefits?
When it comes to olive oil pressed from fresh olives, the Italians, Greeks and Spaniards have long had a corner on the market.
In addition to enjoying the great taste of olive oil, Greeks understand there’s more to the oil than meets the eye.
It’s important to know that the flavor, smell and color of olive oil can vary significantly based on whether it’s extra virgin (finest grade) or not. Extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality olive oil you can get. It is unrefined and contains more nutrients in comparison to other processed varieties.
In fact, in contrast to unrefined extra virgin olive oil, refined olive oils could be lacking in important fatty acids, rich oleic acid and other nutrients.
A word of caution is warranted when it comes to olive oil… false olive oil abounds.
High-quality olive oil should have a fresh and fruity fragrance as well as a slightly spicy taste, which can leave a harmless burning sensation in the back of your throat.
Tests reveal that 60 to 90% of the olive oils sold in American grocery stores and restaurants are adulterated with cheap vegetable oils or non-food-grade olive oils.
So, just like vinegars, the flavor, texture and quality of extra virgin olive oils vary. We want to help you take the guess work out of finding high-quality vinegars and oils to enhance your culinary experience at home, and it all starts with…
The Biodynamic Farm as a Living Organism
The world’s oldest ecological certification, Demeter Certified Biodynamic® is the conscious, creative, holistic way of farming that elevates the organic standards on regenerative agriculture. It uses a soil-first approach that naturally draws carbon from the atmosphere and stores it into the ground, where it belongs, to create richer, more nutrient-dense farmlands and harvests for better food the way nature intended.
Viewing the farm as a living organism that’s self-sustaining, it follows the cycles of nature to create a diverse and balanced ecosystem, promoting the overall health of our crops and animals while also healing the planet.
Striving for a higher standard, we worked exclusively with Demeter Certified Biodynamic® farmers and craftsmen to offer you exceptional high-quality oils and vinegars, certified by the platinum standard for high-quality nutritious foods and raw ingredients.
Here’s a closer look at how Demeter Certified Biodynamic compares to the National Organic Program’s (NOP’s) Certified Organic standards:
| Allows imported organic fertilizers |
Reduces imported materials by utilizing nutrient-rich humus created within the farming system |
| Allows imported organic pesticides |
Creates a biologically diverse habitat that encourages balanced predator-prey relationships |
| Does not require the use of livestock |
Integrates livestock to improve soils |
| Does not address the rotation of crops |
Promotes crop rotation and intensive use of cover crops (green manure) to add nutrients to the soil |
| Organic feed for livestock can come from anywhere in the world |
50% of livestock feed must be grown on the farm |
| Does not require biodiversity |
10% of total farm acreage must be set aside for biodiversity |
| Focuses on crops and allows for only one section of a farm to be certified |
Focuses on farms as a whole and requires that the entire farm be certified |
| Product certification focuses mainly on ingredients used |
Product certification uses 12 Biodynamic® processing standards so the agricultural ingredients used define the product |
Now, we’d like to introduce you to truly exceptional vinegars, and an extra virgin olive oil – all produced from Demeter Certified Biodynamic farms and vineyards.
How Solspring® Biodynamic® Oils and Vinegars Elevate the Standard
Our authentic food brand – Solspring® – brings you high-quality olive oil and vinegars, exclusively produced on small Biodynamic farms, vineyards and in distilleries across Europe:
Our Extra Virgin Olive Oil is exclusively produced on small Biodynamic family farms from fresh Koroneiki olives grown in southern Greece. The olives are hand-picked and cold pressed within 24 hours of harvesting, resulting in the freshest, rich and flavorful olive oil you’ll ever taste.
- Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Red Wine Vinegar:
![Biodynamic Organic Red Wine Vinegar]()
Produced solely from Syrah and Grenache Rouge grapes grown on a single Biodynamic vineyard in Greece, our Red Wine Vinegar benefits from the traditional Orleans Method of fermentation. This centuries-old rare process results in a full-bodied and bursting-with-flavor red wine vinegar, perfect for heartier flavors and foods like beef, pork and vegetables.
- Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic White Wine Vinegar:
![Biodynamic Organic White Wine Vinegar]()
Our White Wine Vinegar is made with Roditis and Savatiano grapes fermented into wine and then into vinegar using the slow, Orleans Method over time. The grapes are grown on a single Biodynamic Greek vineyard with vinegar produced on site, yielding a deeply flavorful and slightly sweet white wine vinegar that pairs well with lighter dishes like chicken and fish.
- Solspring® Biodynamic® Balsamic Vinegar of Modena:
![Biodynamic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena]()
Using only top-quality grapes grown and cultivated in the Italian Province of Modena, our Balsamic Vinegar is exclusively produced on regenerative Biodynamic farms. By employing traditional “open sky and direct fire” procedures to maximize its full-bodied flavor, this vinegar is perfect as a dressing for salads and vegetables and is a fantastic companion to Biodynamic® Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
- Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Apple Cider Vinegar:
![Organic Apple Cider Vinegar]()
Innovatively crafted by skilled Italian artisans, our Apple Cider Vinegar is produced unfiltered and raw on Biodynamic farms. As this vinegar is bottled right after fermentation and avoids pasteurization, the apple fragrance is left intact and the organoleptic characteristics of the fruit are preserved. Enjoy this invigorating vinegar as a beverage, or add it to your favorite salads, vegetables and other culinary dishes.
Why the Traditional Process of Making Wine Vinegar is so Important
While scientific advances have made large-scale production of vinegars swift and easy, the traditional Orleans Method or Process creates the most full-bodied and nutrient-rich wine vinegars.
Named after a small town in France, called Orleans, the Orleans Method has been around since the Middle Ages, eventually receiving official recognition and world patents in the 16th century.
Unlike the large-scale production of vinegar, which includes rapid forced fermentation, the Orleans Method requires:
- Grapes to be left on the vine for at least a month to ensure a high-quality starter called the “mother culture.”
- A controlled environment for the conversion process with carefully cultured bacteria in complete darkness.
- The vinegar to mature for about 10 months in small oak barrels.
Most brands found at your local grocer are produced in huge aluminum tanks using a quick process, typically within 24 hours.
Just like fine wine, excellent wine vinegar comes only with time and not through rapid mass-produced and forced acceleration processes.
That’s why Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Red and White Wine Vinegars offer exclusive and superior quality and taste.
Biodynamic Balsamic Vinegar Produced True to Tradition on a Family-Owned Farm
Our Biodynamic® Balsamic Vinegar is produced in a generations-old family-owned farm with deep roots in Modena, Italy.
The farming was converted into organic and Biodynamic back in the 1970s – a progressive change not seen anywhere else in the industry at that time. In the 1980s, our supplier received a special certification for Demeter Certified Biodynamic® balsamic vinegar production.
Production continues today, taking advantage of the original procedures, and maintains the family tradition as the unique Demeter Certified Biodynamic® balsamic vinegar producer in Italy.
Through Biodynamic farming, the highest quality grapes are produced with authentic flavor and goodness beyond grapes cultivated with more mass-produced conventional systems.
Here’s a taste of how our exclusive Biodynamic® Balsamic Vinegar is meticulously produced over time:
- The raw material used to produce the vinegar is grape must, cultivated within the Modena area.
- After the pressing that follows the grape harvest, the juice is removed from the stalks prior to fermentation.
- Next, it is cooked over direct heat in a special boiler.
- After prolonged boiling using the traditional “open sky and direct fire” methods, the concentrated cooked must is removed from the boiler.
- After cooling for at least 48 hours, the liquid is filtered and checked for taste and quality.
- After resting in a special iron tank, the acidification process begins once another taste check has been passed.
- One of the final steps called “topping up” places the cooked must into wood barrels for refining.
This clearly shows how extensive the traditional processes are for producing a high-quality balsamic vinegar, like Solspring® Biodynamic® Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.
Tradition and Innovation Used to Create Our Biodynamic Apple Cider Vinegar
When it comes to apple cider vinegar, a wide variety of choices are available.
Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Apple Cider Vinegar is truly in a class of its own.
Not only is this high-quality vinegar produced on Biodynamic orchards and farms in Italy but only organic apples from the Trentino Alto Adige region are exclusively used.
And you won’t find any mass-production processes involved here. Biodynamic® Apple Cider Vinegar is obtained by following traditional processes.
The apples are collected and then pressed to obtain two juices: an apple cider juice and a concentrate.
The juice is then left to rest in the original containers and not in wooden barrels. This is done to maintain the freshness and all the organoleptic characteristics of the fruit.
The full-bodied, unfiltered vinegar is bottled, as it naturally comes after fermentation and without pasteurization to leave all the apple properties intact.
Biodynamic® Apple Cider Vinegar is raw and unfiltered with the “mother” intact. The “mother” is amino acid based and rich with probiotics and enzymes.
Order Our Biodynamic Vinegars and Olive Oil Today
Of course you can find extra virgin olive oils and vinegars just about anywhere on the internet today as well as at your local grocer.
Unfortunately, what originated years ago with robust olive oils and vinegars produced from local farmers has now evolved into mass-produced, overly-processed oils and vinegars.
We doubt you’ll find any of these mass-produced oils and vinegars even come close to our high-quality Solspring® Biodynamic® products.
Our oils and vinegars are steeped in rich traditions of using only the freshest fruits and grains, and take advantage of centuries-old processes.
We strongly believe Biodynamic is the wave of the future and exactly what’s needed to ensure that our soils can continue to support agriculture and feed the world.
Experience the delightful difference with Solspring® – the growing authentic food brand that creates access to Biodynamic and organic foods from regenerative farms – and order your Biodynamic® Oil and Vinegar products today.