Jerez Vinegar owes its unique character to a series of factors. The first is undoubtedly its exalted origin: Sherry Wine. Only wines made from Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Muscat (Moscatel) grapes, grown in vineyards registered in the "Jerez-Xérès-Sherry" Denomination are suitable for use to produce Jerez Vinegar.

The vinegar can be made from fortified wines or young, unfortified wines. The former are usually wines from Sherry ageing nurseries which for some reason or other have reached a high level of acetic acidity. In the case of young wines, the action of the acetic bacteria is usually initially enhanced by processes to accelerate the certification process.

In either case, the vinegar's true qualities are acquired during its ageing, the same ageing process that is used for Sherry Wine; criaderas and solera. This dynamic ageing system provides the ideal conditions in which the acetic bacteria can carry out their long, painstaking work. In each criadera¸or nursery, and the via the system of "running the scales", the product that was formerly wine acquires an increasing acidity, concentration and complexity.

The slow work of the acetic bacteria together with the criaderas and solera system bestows Jerez Vinegar with its own personality and extraordinary concentration, making it almost an elixir.
The traditional vessel employed for ageing Jerez Vinegars is the 500-litre American oak Sherry butt which has previously held Sherry Wine. However The Regulations of the Denomination of Origin provide that other oaken or chestnut containers, with a capacity of less than 1,000 litres, can be used.

The Regulations distinguish between two types of vinegar, depending on their degree of ageing: "Vinagre de Jerez", which has to be aged for at least six months and "Vinagre de Jerez Reserva", which requires at least two years of ageing. In the case of the latter however the Region's winegrowers often age their vinegars for much longer periods, up to 20 or even 30 years.

Due to the fact that Jerez Vinegar production uses traditional methods, the Regulation allows for up to 3% vol. of residual alcohol and a minimum content of 1.3 g/litre dry extract per degree of acetic acidity. The minimum acidity of Jerez Vinegar is 70 g/litre (7% vol.).