One of the more sophisticated types of dessert wines available with a very long history is Italy's Vin Santo, which translates as saint wine or the wine of saints. It was originally the name of the Greek dessert wine from the small archipelago of volcanic islands of Santorini off the coast of Greece in the Aegean Sea. When the Venetians controlled Greece centuries ago, they became fans of the sweet white wine. Once their occupation ended, they decided to make their own Vin Santo back in their native land of Italy.

There are several stories of how the wine got its name but no solid evidence has been found to support any of them. One portrays the patriarch John Bessarion after being served some of the local wine in Florence saying the wine was remarkably similar to the Greek wine of Xanthos. Someone heard Santo and thus the name Vin Santo was adopted. Regardless of the mythos, the name most definitely has origins from its association with the church.

Today this sweet white wine is one of Italy’s most well known attractions. It is made by hanging hand-picked white wine grapes (most often Trebbiano, Malvasia and Canaiolo) from rafters in well ventilated rooms called vinsantaie, where the heat will cause the grapes to lose water and shrivel to raisins. This lasts from October to sometime in January.

The white raisins are then pressed for the remaining juice heavily concentrated in sugars and fermented in oak casks, called caratelli. After the primary fermentation the sweet wine is racked (a process for removing sediment) then they caratelli are sealed for aging. The casks are placed under the eaves of the winery and are left to age for several years, enduring the changes of the seasons. Some are left to age for up to ten years.

Once the aging process is complete the juice transforms into a succulent amber sweet wine with bursting fruitcake aromas and a nutty essence likened to hazelnut. Most styles of this dessert wine, however, are made as semi-dry wines. Some wineries produce dry versions though. Whatever the style, it is always highly viscous, has a high alcohol content and possesses intense flavors, very much like Sherry. To find the best vintage, the rule of thumb is the better the year for red wines, the better the vintage for Vin Santo.

Each area of Italy uses its own native white wine grape variety to make its unique style of the sweet white wine. Some of the best examples of Vin Santo come from Tuscany, particularly from the area of San Gimignano, which uses the Vernaccia grape is used. Other areas that are well known for their dessert wine are Umbria, Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia.

You can enjoy it with seasonal fruits, desserts, pastries, but In Italy it is most widely paired with biscotti. The practice is to dip your biscotti into a chilled dessert wine glass full of Vin Santo to soften the hard cracker. This dish alone can be a delightful sweet wine and dessert course.