Vin Santo

Every fall, after the grape harvest in Tuscany, the fragments of the field are gathered, dried, crushed, and stored in vats to become, when it is time, a sweet dessert wine called vin santo, holy wine. The myth informing the vin santo rituals originates in the fourteenth century when a friar supposedly used this left-over wine to cure the sick. Additionally, the wine is often used in the church’s Eucharist.

Served at family special occasions, including the welcoming of guests and weddings, vin santo complements almond biscotti which is dipped into the wine before it is eaten. The last sips, with all their cookie crumbs, are savored as the ultimate, crowning pleasure.

I remember with joy an experience of vin santo at a lunch table with friends one delightful day in Italy. Holy wine indeed. A gathering of the fragments.