— Roy L. Cox

champagne vinaigrette uses champagne vinegar, so it's a vinegar that's based on champagne, or at least champagne as a primary ingredient. And so it has some very subtle flavor notes of that beverage. And so what oils would be appropriate? So generally speaking, think about neutral flavored oils. Champagne vinegar that goes into champagne vinaigrette is a little more delicate in its acidity than your run-of-the-mill white distilled vinegar, which has these harsher, more acidic notes to it. So, certainly for the champagne vinaigrette, think about a more neutral oil, and one place to start as a popular choice is grape seed oil. Also, avocado oil may be considered, as well as vegetable oil or canola oil that you can find at probably any grocery store. So, all of these are going to be refined, and they're going to be neutral in flavor, aroma, and the color is going to be fairly light. Now, certainly with the grape seed oil, it's going to be almost colorless. Avocado oil is pretty light in color. Canola oil can have a yellowish hue to it, as well as a vegetable oil or a salad oil that you might see at the grocery store. Any of those are fine, and really you have other options, too, if you want to experiment and see what you might like. Okay? Olive oil is also a choice. Now, olive oil has a more distinctive flavor and color associated with it, usually. And it's going to depend upon how you like those characteristics coming through to the final vinaigrette that you make. Also, if you use olive oil for your salad dressings, while the flavor is very nice, again, if you like that flavor, it tends to be pretty strong. And so you want to adjust the vinegar content up in order to bring balance to those stronger flavor and even viscosity of that olive oil. Okay? So start out with those, Roy, and see how you like it, and you're bound to find a balance in there somewhere. As always, whatever vinaigrette recipe you're using, use that as a starting point. Don't be bashful about altering the ratio of the oil to the vinegar to find a balance that suits your palate, or the foods that you're using it on, the particular salad greens, for example. Thank you.