Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico 2010 (375ml)

This wine has a special method to make it. The freshly harvested Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes are left on straw mats to raisin or hung or dried by hanging on racks indoors. The style ranges from dry to sweet; this style is done sweet and pairs perfectly with biscotti.

Holy Wine

Although the style of making wine from dried grapes has been around almost as long as wine has been made, there are many theories on how the particular name Vin Santo or "holy wine" came to be associated with this style of wine in Italy. The most likely origin was the wine's historic use in the Catholic Mass, where sweet wine was often preferred.

After the grapes destined for Vin Santo are harvested in September or October, they are laid out on straw mats, often under rafters or staircases. They are kept in warm, well-ventilated rooms that allow the moisture in the grape to evaporate. This process of desiccation allows the sugars in the grape to be more concentrated. The longer the grapes are allowed to dry and desiccate, the higher the resulting residual sugar levels will be in the wine. Depending on the style of wine desired, the grapes may be crushed and the fermentation process started after a few weeks or not till late March. Producers may use a starter culture of yeast known as a madre that includes a small amount of finished Vin Santo from previous years' production. It is believed that this older wine can help jump-start the fermentation process and also add complexity to the wine.

After fermentation, the grapes are then aged in small oak barrels. In many DOC regions, the wines are required to age for at least 3 years though it is not uncommon for producers to age their wines for 5 to 10 years. Traditionally, the barrels were made of chestnut instead of oak, which contributed high amounts of wood tannins and was very porous, promoting excessive evaporation in the barrel. Under this same traditional style of winemaking, a large ullage or air space would emerge in the barrel and oxidation took place. This gave the wine its characteristic amber color but also flavors and traits that may be characterized as wine faults.

Some producers still use non-oak barrels, such as chestnut, juniper, and cherry wood, and may even blend batches of Vin Santo aged in different wood barrels together. This has the potential of giving the wines more layers of complexity much like vinegar producers in the Emilia-Romagna region use different wood types to add complexity to their vinegar. Barrels used for the aging of Vin Santo are often marked with the Christian cross.

Although the style of making wine from dried grapes has been around almost as long as wine has been made, there are many theories on how the particular name Vin Santo or "holy wine" came to be associated with this style of wine in Italy. The most likely origin was the wine's historic use in the Catholic Mass, where sweet wine was often preferred.

Other, likely apocryphal, stories on the name's origin attribute its naming to the work of a 14th-century friar from the province of Siena who would use the leftover wine from Mass to cure the sick. The miraculous healing became associated with the santo or "holy" wine and the name "Vin Santo" was allegedly born.

My personal observation is that in the slow, oxidative maturation time in barrel, the wine actually develops some oxygen-related "flaws" (sins?), namely acetal notes during evaporation (the Angel's share) that happens during the wine's years in cask. Yet in Vin Santo, Holy Wine, these flaws are "forgiven," leaving the beauty of the wine to shine through. Sound familiar?