Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino review and tasting notes

Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino has bewitched us. It is a moving wine for its complexity and splendor. It is sweet, mottled with incredible oxidized notes that enhance the ripe tones of the fruit and the honeyed notes. It is ripe, but never cloying, always precise and marked by a commendable freshness.

Of course, it is such a pyrotechnic and kaleidoscopic wine that it deserves a lot of attention. Calm down, but on its own, as a meditation wine, it is pure nectar and if you combine it with spoon desserts like tiramisù, it is even better.

But the ideal combination is with terrines and blue cheeses. Even the syrupy consistency seems born for this. It will know how to creep into the veins of the most seasoned and savory cheeses and will cover them with its velvety sweetness.

But having said that, we do not want to reduce the Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino to a simple sweet wine. It would be an understatement, as it is an understatement to say that the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is simple: it is a living legend. It is a distillate that sums up the passing of the seasons, flavors of a land. And there are few wines from which have an evocative power like Vin Santo Toscano.

First, the bunches are harvested when they are very ripe. Then they are put on the mats to dry the bunches to increase the concentration of sugars. Then the bunches of dried grapes are pressed, they are fermented thanks to the skins’ indigenous yeasts, and then the long period of aging in the kegs begins.

The caratelli are small wooden barrels for the refinement of Vin Santo, which are placed in the attics, under the roofs, to let the wine experience the passage of time and seasons. The most attentive of you will have noticed the similarity with the production process of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Reggio Emilia. But it is also the Madeira process, only once the barrels were loaded into the holds of the vessels that sailed the oceans.

It is a rough, brutal treatment, but the wine comes out tempered, transforms, becomes dense, sweet, fragrant like the garden of Eden. The suggestions of Moscato explode and reach unprecedented peaks of aromaticity, while Trebbiano, with its acidity, makes the wine strong and preserves it.

And this Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino is a true warrior. After 5 years of crusades in the kegs, it comes out and is a masterpiece.

Color

Amber, crystalline, bright.

The bouquet of the Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino

The fruit is enveloping, mottled with sweet spices, candied ginger, citrus fruits, flowers, vanilla, saffron, walnuts, hazelnuts, honey and slight oxidation dominates everything, which makes the aromas even more meaty and sensual. Marzipan in the finish, sugared almonds, dates, is an infinite kaleidoscope of suggestions in which to get lost.

The taste of Vin Santo del Chianti DOC Castello Sonnino

And in the mouth of all this structure, this richness reappears with coherence and precision. The sip is sweet and dense, but the acidity is still there to dictate an agile and elegant rhythm. The balance is excellent. The sweetness is dominant but not cloying. It opens up to many facets: it is never complacent as a sweet wine, is not satisfied with being velvety, and titillates the palate with savory tips. The aromatic depth is splendid. The finish is dominated by dried fruit and is of glorious persistence.

A great wine. There is no need to add anything else.

Food Pairings

Rabbit terrine, apple pie, trifle, panna cotta with berries, bonet and white chocolate cheesecake. But the absolute apotheosis of taste is reached with mature and blue cheeses. The reason is simple, the sweet and slightly oxidized flavor of the wine is perfect to harmonize with the molds of Roquefort-Stilton-Gorgonzola, but it is also excellent for smoothing the flavor of aged cheeses such as Castelmagno and Pecorino di Moliterno.