I recently received the following email from GM, a lovely new CorkPopper reader from New York:
Have just had my first visit to your blog courtesy of a Google Alert for Venice Venezia where I spent four weeks this year.
About forty years ago at the Paris Restaurant in Orvieto my lady and I were introduced to Vin Santo (seemingly the local usage) and were delighted by its taste and complexity. We persuaded our hostess to sell us a bottle (theirs, not labeled) and brought it back next year “for a refill”. Mrs. Paris was delighted.
Generally we saw it used as an after dinner drink, but in Gragnano, on the hills above the Amalfi drive, we saw it seal arrangements for a wedding dinner, evidently mother, daughter, and the manager having come to terms. They didn’t savor it as we did, but just tossed it down.
While there we had a wonderful red frissante (sp?) from an unmarked bottle, cork wired down, and over an inch of lees. No name; “It’s ours.”
As I understand it, Vino Santo is made at Eastertime from last year’s grapes, but you may know better, or more about what is involved. Please do blog it for us.
There must be hundreds of small vintners in Italy. E.g., the Palumbo in Ravello makes Episcopio which we liked very much and which Marco Vuilleumier had hoped to ship to the US.; I don’t know if he succeeded. The winery came before the hotel and is now 140 years old.
Thanks for the question, GM. Originally from Tuscany (though, as you mention, winemakers and families all over Italy make their own), Vin Santo (or Vino Santo) was originally produced as a dry wine and dates back to as far as the 15th century. Though there are various legends as to how it got its name, the most widely accepted is that it was made into a sweet wine so that children could sip it during mass.* Regardless of the origin of its name, Vin Santo is traditionally associated with friendship and hospitality, and you would be hard-pressed to find an Italian home or restaurant is without it.
Vin Santo has a very special production process. The grapes are hand-picked and hung from the rafters of a well-ventilated room. Once dried, the grapes are pressed, and the juice is fermented in caratelli, small chestnut or oak barrels. The caratelli are stored, often in attics, for anywhere from five to ten years, during which time the wine develops a deep golden or amber color. Dry Vin Santo is traditionally served as an aperitivo (pre-dinner drink), while the sweet version is usually served with biscotti (called cantucci in Italy) for dessert. The cantucci are dipped in the sweet wine, softening the cookie and leaving delicious crumbs in the wine for later.
While I haven’t been able to find the Palumbo Hotel’s Vin Santo anywhere, there are certainly some excellent producers whose wines are exported to the United States. Given the intensive and extended production process, however, these wines are often on the expensive side. That said, as with most dessert wines, a little goes a long way, and Vin Santo doesn’t disappoint as an excellent (and very traditional) way to end a meal.
So, GM, thanks again for the email. I’ve learned a bit myself and am looking forward to my next Vin Santo e Cantucci.
* Kolpan, Smith & Weiss, Exploring Wine (2d ed.), Culinary Institute of America (2002).
** This beautiful photo is courtesy of this website.
