Lang Weinessig, the Vinegar Manufactory on the Southern Wine Route
In Edesheim on the Southern Wine Route, Jens Lang has been crafting vinegar for over 10 years like a chef: wine vinegars, balsamic, fruit balsamic, and his famous dips, made from Palatinate wine and regional fruits. A small manufactory where every drop reveals the palate of star-rated cuisine.
Lang Weinessig stands for acidic indulgence from the Palatinate. Founded by Jens Michael Lang, a trained chef with years of experience in star-rated kitchens, the manufactory in the village of Edesheim near Edenkoben transforms Palatinate wine into fine vinegars, vinaigrettes, and dips. The base is provided by the family's own vineyard on the Southern Wine Route, and the finishing touch by a palate that has learned to distinguish the good from the very best.
A chef loses his heart to vinegar
In the beginning, there was a chef who loved good wine and a vintner's daughter who showed him the Palatinate.
Jens Michael Lang is a trained chef and spent years in star-rated kitchens before dedicating himself entirely to the enjoyment of all things acidic. The fact that he lost his heart to the daughter of a Palatinate vintner proved to be perfect, as good wine is the foundation of good vinegar. Thus, one thing led to another: the trained palate, the love, and the wine from the family estate.
For a good decade now, Jens has been working in the village of Edesheim, right near Edenkoben on the Southern Wine Route, on his wine vinegars, balsamic vinegars, and vinegar creations. What started as a quick idea from a chef for his own kitchen has grown into a small manufactory that bottles the south of the Palatinate, drop by drop, and always with the wine first.
Edenkoben and the surrounding villages live off wine; vines stretch up the slopes, row after row. It is hard to imagine a better place for a vinegar manufactory, as what the vintner presses, Jens refines a second time in the barrel. The wine becomes vinegar, and the vinegar becomes seasoning.
Four vinaigrettes, four dips, one balsamic
The product range reads like a small family, as many vinegars carry first names like old acquaintances. They taste tangy, fruity, and velvety, depending on which one you open.
Four vinaigrettes are ready-made salad dressings that taste great even without oil. There is the Mediterranean Jens with rosemary, thyme, and garlic, a classic for over 25 years. The light Liese brings together Riesling and a barrel-aged white wine vinegar, a white balsamic for delicate salads. Albert is fruity and dark with Dornfelder, while Doro brings dried tomato into the glass.
The four vinaigrettes come in 180 ml bottles, Jens and Doro additionally in large 500 ml bottles, and all together in a gift set with 4 x 180 ml. Alongside them are the four dips, creamy dressings for dipping bread and salad, each made from wine and fruit: Pinot Noir meets cherry, Dornfelder meets date, Riesling meets fig, Pinot Blanc meets apricot. A spoonful is enough to turn a piece of bread into a little appetizer.
Those who prefer a classic choice opt for the rosé-colored Balsamico Südpfalz with 5.2% acidity, bottled in 250 ml. The two fruit balsams made from raspberry and mango add fruitiness to salad, cheese, and even ice cream. And for the undecided, Lang Weinessig packs the finest pieces into sets, such as the Connoisseur Set with 200 ml or the duo of balsamic and walnut oil with 2 x 50 ml. In this way, some 16 vinegars, vinaigrettes, and sets are gathered here from one single small kitchen.
Palatinate organic wine and regional fruits
Good vinegar needs good wine, and that grows right around the corner here.
"A good vinegar needs a good wine," says Jens, which is why every bottle starts with wine from the family. The base comes from a certified organic vineyard on the Southern Wine Route, and the wines carry the control number DE-ÖKO-006. For the vinaigrettes, the wine is gently reduced so that the alcohol fades away and a very fine seasoning remains.
As a Slow Food supporter, Jens likes to source fruits from the region: quinces, cherries, and apricots grow in the Palatinate, joined by chestnut honey from the forest. Only figs and dates, vanilla and saffron travel from further afield, as is Jens's policy, because they do not grow here. What ripens in the Palatinate comes from the Palatinate; the rest only when it is truly necessary.
Some vinegars age in barrique barrels, the small oak barrels that otherwise lend character to wine. The longer a vinegar rests there, the softer and rounder it becomes, and whatever comes out of the barrel is tasted until the palate is satisfied. Here, time is an ingredient just like any other.
Slow Food and the palate of star-rated cuisine
Jens carries the finest accolade in his mouth: a palate trained by years in star-rated kitchens.
As a supporter of the Slow Food movement, Jens stands for food products that are given time and do not hide their origins. When developing his vinegar creations, he relies on this very practiced palate, and we do the same. What began in star-rated gastronomy as a quick idea for home use, the Jens vinaigrette, is now found in many Palatinate kitchens and still bears his name today.
It is not trophies that decorate this manufactory, but regular customers who have been ordering Jens and Doro for years. One customer simply calls them his favorite vinegars, and a compliment could hardly be more honest than that. At Lang Weinessig, it is not the prize you win that counts, but the plate you season.
Perhaps that is the greatest recognition for a chef: that his vinegars do not stand in a display case but are used daily until the bottle is empty and the next one takes its place. This is how a manufactory grows, slowly and from kitchen to kitchen.
Our favorites from Edesheim
If you want to start with Lang, do it with a vinaigrette and a dip.
For a quick after-work salad, we love the Mediterranean Jens—a spoonful over leaf lettuce or tomatoes, and the plate is done. For a cheese board or as a dip for bread, we recommend the dip with Pinot Noir and cherry, and for those who like it fruity, pour the raspberry fruit balsamic over strawberries or vanilla ice cream.
For summer barbecues, we add a dash of the dip over grilled vegetables; in winter, the Balsamico Südpfalz warms up a lentil stew. And when guests come over, we simply place the bottles on the table so everyone can season their own plate. That is how vinegar becomes a piece of hospitality.
If you cook often, the large 500 ml bottle of the Jens and Doro vinaigrettes is worth it, as it lasts longer than the 180 ml one with frequent use. As a gift, the gift set with four vinaigrettes always brings joy—four names in one box.
Those looking for comparison will find the dark Italian relatives in our balsamic selection. But for the Palatinate in a glass, Lang Weinessig stands close to Edenkoben and completely true to itself. Taste your way through.
