Vinegar with a vintage
Small-batch vinegars and seasonal condiments, made in San Francisco from single-varietal California wine and local fruit at its peak.
naturally preserving the season through applied science
Atomiq Condiments
naturally preserving the season through applied science
Made like wine, used like a chef would
Every Atomiq vinegar begins with one California wine: one grape, one vintage. We ferment it slowly, age it in oak, and label it with the same detail you would find on the wine itself: vintage, region, grower and producer.
Alongside the wine, we work through the year with local fruit as it comes into season. This fall that means wine grapes, apples, pears, Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons, pomegranates, dates and guava. Fruit and vinegar together are the heart of what we make: wine-grape and fruit reductions, mustards, cured and preserved produce, chilis and hot sauces, and seasonings, drawing on culinary traditions from around the world.
In time, Atomiq will be a vinegar brewery, production kitchen, condiment laboratory, aging and bottling facility, and retail tasting room under one roof, built the way a winery is. See where we are headed →
Atomiq is the work of Hugene Kovacs, a San Francisco chef for more than 30 years.
Where our vinegar is headed
Today our vinegar starts in the Labu acetator, a submerged fermenter that turns wine into vinegar in days. Aged in oak, it makes a good vinegar.
The vinegar we want to be known for will come from something slower. Our next step is a row of trickle generators built from used oak wine barrels: our own modern take on the Schützenbach method of 1823. Wine trickles down through a bed alive with vinegar bacteria while air rises up to meet it, giving a vinegar with more depth and character. Every batch will still finish in seasoned white oak.
From fruit to bottle
Every batch follows the same path, done by hand in small runs.
Agresto, Mosti and Oxymel
The names reach back thousands of years. Agresto is the tart sauce medieval Italians pressed from unripe grapes. Mosti comes from mosto, the grape must Romans cooked down into sweet syrups. Oxymel is ancient Greek for “sharp honey,” a mix of vinegar and honey. Read the full story →
We reduce wine-grape and seasonal fruit juice at room temperature, with no added sugar, then blend it with our vinegars. Three styles, from most tart to sweetest. The ratios shift with the seasonal fruit.
Agresto
Mostly vinegar, with some reduction. The tart end of the range.
Mosti
An even balance of sweet and sour.
Oxymel
Mostly reduction, with a small amount of vinegar. The sweet end of the range.
It starts in the vineyard
We work with Old World grape varieties grown in California, from Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Rhône.
Following the seasons
Wild mustard in bloom between the vines: the start of another year.
Wine grapes are where we start, but local fruit keeps us busy all year. What we make changes with the harvest, and when a batch is gone, it is gone until next year.
Spring: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, mulberries, loquats, rhubarb, cherries and apricots.
Summer: apriums, peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots, cane berries, figs and melons.
Fall: wine grapes, apples, pears, Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons, pomegranates, dates and guava.
Winter citrus: blood, Cara Cara and Seville oranges, bergamot, Ruby Red grapefruit and pomelos, kumquats, Meyer lemons and Buddha’s hand.
Vegetables too: tomatoes, peppers and chilis, alliums, artichokes and more follow the same calendar. We choose them by variety and season, just like the fruit.
Coming soon
We are finishing our permits now. Our first pop-ups will serve sandwiches built around our condiments. Join the list to hear when and where.
Questions? Email hugene@atomiqcondiments.com
Vineyard photos: nils-art and jfitzg (Pixabay), Susie Burlson, Mauro Lima, Yaopey Yong and Moritz Knorringer (Unsplash). Oak barrels: Jonathan Borba (Unsplash).