'WOULD YOU LIKE A DROP OF VIN SANTO...? '


This was the ritual welcoming of the local country-folk on receiving visitors.
An d that drop was not just a turn of speech. Vin Santo, precious ad it was and is still today, is served in small doses.
Montefollonico is known simply as ‘the town of Vin Santo’ to the wine connoisseurs who take part in the annual festival appropriately named after the offer of a drop, ‘Lo gradireste un goccio di Vin Santo …?’ , held every December. 


for all illnesses and  it  was  therefore  given  to convalescents and children, too.
Of course, its main use was the worthy crowning of meals and dinners of a certain importance, served with simple, traditional homemade cakes.
Wine connoisseurs and historians have made a good number of guesses as to the origins of the name and each would appear to have found the right one. Some say  the  name  could be down to the almost miraculous healing

Here , the  wine makers lovingly protect the traditional recipe of patience and dedication. In the past this wine, time-consuming and painstaking in the making, was considered to be a kind  of  panacea  

  

properties  of  this  ‘sainted’ wine. Others say the name derives from the Greek word xantos, meaning yellow; others say that the name religious silence, its unique flavour, mellowness and nuances.  

 

 

 

 

Vin Santo :
a simple but mysterious name

The origins of the name ‘Vin Santo’ are debatable.
Perhaps its name derives from its resemblance to the off-white communion wine, yet it is actually light yellow in colour. Perhaps its complex and laborious manufacture – resulting in limited production – meant it was reserved for distinguished guests or the infirm. Or perhaps such a precious wine should by virtue have had tonic or even curative properties.
It is hard to say. Most plausible is that its yellow colour derives  from the Greek word ‘xantòs’ . But perhaps it is best to enjoy this blessed, in fact, sacred wine without thinking too much about its origins.