Vinsanto, Nectar of the Gods

"Won't you come in and have a drop?" are the words that greet guests in the countryside in Tuscany: The drop is not whisky, but Vinsanto, a wine lovingly made from white grapes collected at the beginning of the harvest, set to dry on reed mats called paglie, and pressed in December or January, when their juices are reduced to a syrup; the must is then fermented for several years in caratelli, the small, often ancient barrels that are kept under the eves, where they feel the effects of the changes in the seasons. If the host knows his business, the guest is in for a rare treat: a pale golden wine with a bouquet reminiscent of flowers and honey, which is full bodied and sweet, with delightful complexities, and a long-lasting finish with nutty overtones.

It may sound odd, but an excellent year for wine is not necessarily a perfect year for vinsanto. If the weather is dry through the harvest and into the fall, the wine will be good and the grapes set aside for vinsanto will gradually shrink to raisins loaded with sugary sweet juices. However, if the fall is damp, some of the raisins will be infected by Botrytis, the noble rot. The resulting vinsanto will still be sweet (Botrytis concentrates the sugars in the grape), but will also have delightful complexities and nuances that one normally associates with a Sauternes. The vinsanto that is coming onto market this year was, depending upon the producer, put into caratelli between 1991 and 1993. Considering how wet these falls were, we could have some very pleasant surprises.

Vinsanto goes well with many things, including panforte.
This particular vinsantaia is at Capezzana, which also runs a cooking school.