The definition of an “Artisan” is a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand.
I humbly call myself an Artisan vinegar maker, because it has taken me years to learn my vinegar making skills, and because Rockbridge Cider Vinegar is truly hand crafted. I learned my craftsmanship from master brewers in England and by personal trial and error.
I'm devoted to a slow, natural fermentation process that was developed in rural England over hundreds of years. I am convinced that a fine quality apple cider vinegar must be made by hand in small batches. It takes time and patience to create a smooth, mellow tasting vinegar.
There are apple cider vinegars in the grocery store that are labeled “organic”, but most of them are produced using industrial processes. With an industrial process a business can produce a vinegar from apple concentrate and water in just a few days. Rockbridge Cider Vinegar takes months to create by hand from ripe Virginia apples - I don't add water.
It is sometimes difficult to know which foods in the grocery store are home grown, and which are just labeled to look like they come from a small farm. Knowing your farmer personally is probably the only way to know how your food is grown. But you can be sure that this artisan vinegar maker will always follow time-honored methods of hand crafting Rockbridge Cider Vinegar.