Can I use distilled white vinegar instead of white wine vinegar when making my own dressing for gifts? I am making my own flavored vinegar for the first time and most of the recipes call fro white wine vinegar but it's hard to find and expensive. Would white distilled be okay?
The flavors are very different -- white wine vinegar is made from white wine, while white vinegar is made from a distilled spirit.

If you had to substitute white wine vinegar, I'd go with one of the following:


champagne vinegar (made from sparking wine; tends to be more mild than white wine vinegar)
rice vinegar (tends to be more mild / lower acid)
cider vinegar (more acidic, but has some sweeter notes that help balance it out)