i-florence

Vin Santo is a traditional Tuscan wine that is not only made commercially, but also on farms and in people’s homes. It’s a rich, sweet wine that got its name (Vin Santo means ‘holy wine’) as it used to be used by the priest in Holy Communion.

Halfway between wine and whiskey, this almondy, caramelized sweet wine is some of the most distinctive after-dinner wines found in Italy.

Traditionally, you might also be offered a glass of Vin Santo when you visit someone’s home – hence the nickname the ‘wine of friendship’.

There are wide variations in Vin Santo’s quality – those producers who make good ones tell ominous tales of others cutting their wines with spirits to bring them up to the required alcohol level, adding caramel for color and flavor, and so forth.

Usually getting up to about 16 to 18 percent alcohol and taking on a deep, amber color from the small chestnut or oak casks in which it is aged, Vin Santo is more robust than most other dessert wines made from white grapes.

Although is is produced in other regions of Italy (Trentino Alto-Adige, Umbria), it is a Tuscan signature, the kind of wine most Tuscan vintners make at least a little bit of for special occasions.
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