Posting in a hurry today but just had to get this up on the blog. After I posted the other day debunking the myth that Italian Vin Santo and Greek Vinsanto are related in any other way beyond a homonymical coincidence, the chief enologist at Boutari (whose social media project is managed by me), Yannis Voyatzis, express-mailed me a wonderful volume on the wines of Santorini, which (literally) just arrived. In it, I found this wonderful reproduction of a map, printed in 1576 by a Venetian printer. As you can see above and in the detail below, in late 16th-century Venice, the Venetian name of the island Santorini was already well-established.
But more importantly, you can see that the name Santo Erini was still prevalent.
I believe that this supports my theory that the Greek appellation name Vinsanto comes from Vin[o di] Santo[erini].
I’ll have a great deal to say about this in an upcoming post. Early Venetian printing was one of the subjects of my doctoral thesis and I think I’ll have some interesting insights for the philologically inclined among us.
I’m super slammed with work today but just had to share this find asap.
Is this better than the Da Vinci Code OR WHAT???!!!! :-)
Do Bianchi 
Um, anything is better than what Dan Brown writes. Let’s just say that his motto could be “logic is nice but there’s not reason for it”.
tremendous work. geeky to the nth power (that’s a compliment).
I’m very curious to taste the difference, as I’ve LOVED the Italian Vin Santo I’ve had in the past, and I have an unopened bottle of Santorini Vinsanto in the keep to be enjoyed soon.
This is much better…seeing as the Da Vinci Code was utter crap! I love your history/etymology posts.
Ciao Jeremy
Enjoy the blog, thank you. I was at a Greek masterclass (Gaia and Kir Yianni) just last week and the vin santo (or is that vinsanto) thing came up. I was suprised by the comment and couldn’t find any research on the link until your article. Great timing as I now have customers asking me to expalin the Santorini origins of vin santo!
@King Krak and Vinogirl thanks for the words of support: I never read nor saw the Da Vinci Code but I didn’t really think I was going out on a limb with such a bold statement! ;-)
@Joe from one geek to another, I’ll raise a glass! :-)
@Matt thanks for the kind words. I hope my findings will be helpful. I realized, too, that there was a need for some solid research here. I might have to get back to NYC or Italy before I find the definitive document, but I think I’m on the right track.
Hey there, great work, Voyatzis is a great man always cares about Greek wines and it just happens to be the best wine blender in the country.
Vinsantos are in their majority good, there are som though that do go a few steps further, specialy the more mature, though you can detect some VA, though still magical
You should also consider that these vines are grown on a volcanic rock, in some of the driest, hottest & sunniest vineyards in the world, where not many grapes can survive, Assyrtiko it’s arguably Greeces finest white varietal, with great aging potential in whites & dessert wines.
Have anyone tried an Argyros Vinasanto 20+ years old
or Boutari Kalisti, 1993 / 2001 / 2003
Scrumptious