The title molecule, C21H25NO7, has four stereogenic centres and crystallized as a racemate. It consists of enantiomeric pairs with the relative configuration rac-(1R*,2S*,3R*). The cyclohexenone ring adopts an envelope conformation; the dimethyl-substituted C atom lies 0.640 (1) Å out of the mean plane formed by the rest of the ring atoms (r.m.s. deviation = 0.016 Å). The oxacyclohexene ring adopts a half-chair conformation, the hydroxy- and carboxyl-substituted C atoms lying −0.336 (1) and 0.419 (1) Å, respectively, out of the mean plane formed by the rest of the ring atoms (r.m.s. deviation = 0.002 Å). In the crystal, O—H...O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into a chain along the c-axis direction.