TOD: I remember my mother's dressing (never called a vinaigrette, though that's what it was) like Proust remembers his madeleines. She makes it with salad oil and white vinegar, a touch of sugar and a touch of salt. Very simple, yet she always got the acid right. Too much and you pucker like mad. Maybe it was the sugar that tamed it.
I make plenty of dressings these days, usually with olive oil and lime juice, since vinegar does not go with wine. I'll add mustard, dill, herbs from the garden, whatever flavor might go with the rest of the meal or that I feel like.
When I eat out, blue cheese is likely to be the one dressing without sugar or without a lot of it, so I'll go with it. You never know what you're going to get when you order it, either. I've in in places where the blue cheese dressing is a vinaigrette, others where it's more mayonnaise than anything.
