I’m interested in acquiring some vin santos but I do not know who makes good ones that are available here.I had Felisina which I liked.What are the reasonable and nonreasonable good ones?
It’s a short list. You’ve already mentioned 1 and that’s Felsina. Isole e Olena is better than that and pretty easy to find. The Capezzana is STUNNING when it is released. All of the above I reviewed on my site. A simple search will bring them up. All of the three are $30-$50 for a split. If money is no object, Avignonesi is on a different plane. Like Michael Jordan or Lebron. Nothing else comes close.
There is nothing better than rock hard biscotti dunked in good VS.
Rocca di Montegrossi makes an excellent vin santo but it is pricey. I haven’t tasted many. So far it seems like Felsina is the QPR sweet spot.
There is a bit of Greek vin santo in the U.S. market. Sigalas makes one. Based on the quality of the rest of their lineup I’m sure it is a good bet.
The Sigalas is excellent
I certainly agree on the Capazzana. You might also consider San Niccolo at a little lower price point I believe. I just opened the 2000 last week and it was excellent.
San Giusto a Rentennano’s is also very good.
The Argyros 20 YO is a pretty amazing Greek one. I can vouch for the Sigalas one as well.
One note to heed: the sweetness level of these wines varies incredibly. I’ve had ones as sweet as icewine and others that were very much dry despite being labeled as dessert wines. I think the drier o es are perfect for biscotti dipping while the sweeter ones should be drunk on their own.
Another excellent QPR is Lornano if you like yours on the so sweet it’s dessert by itself side like I do. Sigalas and Argyros fall on this side too, by the way.
Selvapiana’s is very good (at least the 2004 which I’ve had twice).
Have you guys been to the Vin Santo room at Capezzana? Talk about old school. It’s basically the attic of the tasting room. All sorts of nasty old barrels with plenty of them bleeding. I think the climate control comes by way of opening the window on hot days. But I agree it is an excellent Vin Santo, especially when one considers that it is not exhorbitantly expensive. Their carmignano is quite good too.
Just finished off the 1997 Isole. Great wine. 2006 Capezzana not yet available. But when it is, strike hard. I had it at Slow Wine.
[ResizeableImage=][/ResizeableImage]Just finished off the 1997 Isole. Great wine. 2006 Capezzana not yet available. But when it is, strike hard. I had it at Slow Wine.
Patrick, I haven’t had their vin santo but it doesn’t surprise me that it’s good; I like their San Marcellino CC quite a bit.
Any thoughts/comments on this? It’s the only Vin Santo I have. Color seems a bit advanced. First bottle I opened had a harsh acetone kind of whiff to the nose. Hoping they are not all like that. Been afraid to open another.
I had a glass of '96 Badia de Morrona VS we brought back from Italy ten years ago. Luscious. For health reasons, I need to limit the stickies.
As mentioned above Avignonesi is the bomb and for something really different find a bottle of their Occhio Pernice Vin Santo made with Sangiovese grapes. They are very pricey but worth the $ and effort to find them.
Traditionally made Vin Santo will have a very distinctive color when released, and some VA. I wouldn’t worry about the color but ‘harsh acetone whiff’ sounds to me like a perfect description of a wine with too much VA.
Classic. I asked a wine shop owner in Chianti about vin santo (and why he said the one he was tasting that day was “the 8th best vin santo in Italy”) - he replied - “the vin santo, she likes to sweat. They must sweat or they are no good.”
Quick question - how long can you store these wines after opening? Do they need to be consumed within a few days or can they go out longer? (please excuse my ignorance . . .)
Cheers
I’m one to typically not drink wines more than a day after opening, but these can certainly last. They have the sugar preservation factor like all sweet wines. Also, less than a Sauterne and much less so than say a Beerenauslese, they have an intentionally oxidative style in the winemaking. Hence, not too much importance in perfect barrels or topping off. Some have almost none of that oxidized character and some have quite a bit. I tend to prefer the former, but even those don’t feel like they’ve changed dramatically for the worse after 3-4 days in the fridge. Personally I’d kill them with the four days which is easy given the typical 375ml, but I’d bet many would taste fine at 10 days.
Thanks, John! That’s kind of what I figured but was not certain.
The only times I have had Vin Santo were at restaurants and just by the glass, so I’ve not had any experiences with full bottles . . .
And I gotta agree about the biscotti - and make sure they are hard as can be (recipes that do not call for any butter or oil whatsoever).
