Vin Santo Toscano wine guide
Today we will talk about one of the most important wines of all enology, not so much a wine as a real monument: the Vin Santo Toscano. As a premise, we tell you that there is not only Vin Santo del Chianti, the most famous, but it is also produced in Montepulciano, Carmignano, and Rufina.
What is special about Vin Santo Toscano and how is it produced? Why is it so loved and they continue to produce it even though it is certainly not an easy wine, it’s not widely consumed and needs years and years and painstaking care?
Let’s start by saying that it is a sweet wine produced from dried grapes, from bunches that after a long maturation are collected and placed on racks or hung to dehydrate and concentrate the sugars. The loss of liquid is enormous, even more than 50%, but in doing so sweetness and sumptuousness are amplified exponentially. The drying of the clusters lasts at least two months, but it can also reach an abundant 6 months.
The drying process is the same used to produce the other great sweet wines of the world, including Sauternes, Sagrantino di Montefalco passito, Ramandolo, Recioto, Tokaji, Picolit, but what changes are that the grapes are not infused with noble rot, the famous Botrytis cinerea.
No, what makes the wine unique is the aging in small kegs, small wooden barrels of varying capacity based on the type. If in the Vin Santo del Chianti barrels with a capacity not exceeding 5 hectoliters are allowed, those of the Vin Santo di Montepulciano are even smaller: we start from 3 hectoliters for the simpler products, then a capacity of 125 for the Vin Santo Riserva and we finish a delight of incomparable goodness: the legendary Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice, which however is produced with red berried grapes, mainly Sangiovese.
But let’s go further: these small barrels filled with dense and sugary nectar are often put to rest under the roofs so that the seasons, the alternation of heat and cold, imprint their mark in the wine. Yes, that’s right, the most attentive of you will have noticed that the refining process is very similar to that of the traditional balsamic vinegar of Reggio and Modena, but also of the same Madeira (another great sweet, but fortified wine) that once was embarked on vessels to travel around the world and “feel” the changing latitudes.
In Chianti, this refinement lasts at least 36 months, 48 for the Riserva and the Occhio di Pernice. In Montepulciano, it lasts 36, 60 for Riserva and 96 months for the Occhio di Pernice. Don’t be surprised these wines cost like gold, but not just in a manner of speaking …
Vines used to produce Vin Santo Toscano
Mainly, 70% minimum, Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia Bianca and Grechetto bianco are used, which in Montepulciano is nicely called Pulcinculo, for the remaining 30% other white grape varieties. For the Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice di Montepulciano and Bolgheri, a minimum of 50% Sangiovese and other red grape varieties are used. Obviously in Montepulciano the dominant clone of Sangiovese is Prugnolo Gentile, also used for the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.
Organoleptic characteristics of the Vin Santo Toscano
Apart from the Secco del Chianti versions, it is a sweet wine like ambrosia, velvety, very soft, aromatic, and opulent, with a golden or amber color, which has a dense and enveloping consistency.
The aromas are of dried fruit, cooked, caramelized, with dates and peaches in syrup, ginger, Mediterranean scrub, salt, and sea, while the spices gracefully embroider a crazy aromatic picture, which has few rivals. The flowers, aromatic herbs, medicinal herbaceous tones are imbued with honey, iodine, resins, and saffron. It is a kaleidoscope of perfumes to get lost in.
But do not worry, all this richness on the palate always manifests itself accompanied by freshness, flavor, alcohol, oxidized tones that give vigor, variety, and drinkability to Vin Santo. It is never a mushy, pleased, or seated wine, but it moves, indeed it explodes on the palate, the sweetness is only the first step of a ladder that will take you to heaven.
Vin Santo Food Pairings
Usually it goes well with cantucci, pies, but with this imperious quantity of sugars, body and charm it is one of the few wines, not fortified, able to tame chocolate desserts such as chocolate mousse, pear and chocolate tart, Romagna donut, Tuscan cantucci , trifle, tiramisu, apple pie, creme brùlée.
A separate chapter are the savory dishes such as rabbit terrine, foie gras, croutons with livers and of course all seasoned or blue cheeses. As a pairing potential with cheeses, it has nothing to envy to Sherry.