Comments on: Vin Santo: an overlooked “orange” wine? (and a more likely explanation of its name)

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:14:08 +0000

thanks, everyone, for the comments and insights…

@David and Tracie B Vin Santo is at once an entirely manipulated wine and a truly “natural” (in quotes) wine, isn’t it? Gee I sure hope that you-know-who isn’t reading my blog! ;-)

@Alfonso I would love to try that wine.

@Chris I actually posted on that very topic a few posts ago… just scroll down through previous posts and you’ll find it! :-)

By: Chris Donato

Chris Donato — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:58:36 +0000

When I was is Sicilia last I drank a wine called Zibibbo that was sweet but it was made using muscat grapes. Any connection between the Zibibbo there and Zibibbo in Toscana?

By: David McDuff

David McDuff — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:50:31 +0000

The rich orange color of Vin Santo is created by the drying of the grapes and by intentional oxidation of the wine.

Indeed, though the years the wine spends in contact with those “small casks” and the effects of baking through summers in the un-climate-controlled aging rooms also play a significant role in the oranging of Vin Santo.

By: tracie b

tracie b — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:04:46 +0000

so if every wine is “innoculated” (without the dirty connotation of ‘manipulated’ wine) with the previous vintage’s sediment, it would be fun to discover how long-lived some of those cultures are.

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:06:46 +0000

@rbrand I’ve been told there are some fantastic Cypriot wines out there and would love to try some one of these days.

The Venetians dominated the Greek wine trade during the Renaissance until they were ultimately ousted by the Sultan, who forbade wine. That’s one of the reasons the Greek wine trade is only now emerging from the “dark ages.”

I’ll look for Commandaria… thanks for the comment and thanks for reading… :-)

By: Alfonso

Alfonso — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:03:12 +0000

Attached photo shows Sangiovese drying out for a Vin Santo Rosso they make @ Capezzana in Carmignano. I took the picture when I was there for a previous harvest

http://bit.ly/dBi9k

By: rbrand

rbrand — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:59:35 +0000

Reading your post I was reminded of the wine I learned to appreciate while living in Cyprus for 7 years. Commandaria is an amber-colored sweet wine made from sun-dried indigenous grapes. Cypriots claim it’s the oldest wine still in production. The big 4 wineries dominate about 75% of the market and, in my opinion, have in their mass production strayed from what captivated the Venetians. There are however a few small producers who make some Commandaria well worth trying.

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:29:52 +0000

Len, thanks for reading and for the comment. There’s no doubt that the Venetians’s contact with Greece and Greek wines had a big influence on the wine trade. In the Veneto and Friuli, you can still find references to a wine called “vino di Cipro” or “Cyprus Wine.”

My thought is that Xantos (Santorini) is a linguistic coincidence. I believe that dried grape winemaking originated in the Arab world (as the name Zibibbo reveals) and was prevalent throughout the Mediterranean before the modern era.

My feeling is that Villifranchi’s explanation of the names origin is probably closest to the truth and that the wine has traditionally been associated with the Church and religious holidays.

Let us know if you find out more on your trip and happy (and safe) travels to you!

By: Len Gulino

Len Gulino — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:13:44 +0000

Hi Jeremy,
I’m preparing for my first trip to some of the wine regions of Greece next year, and in so doing I’ve been reading that Vin Santo may have originated on the island of Santorini?? What do you think?

FYI, here is one of the websites that pertains to such:
http://www.hatzidakiswines.gr/index.php?id=vinsanto