Vin Santo is still produced using the same labor-intensive process
that was used hundreds of years ago. Towards the end of the
growing season, before Volpaia harvested its white grapes, the
winery picked the best bunches of Trebbiano and Malvasia to go
into the Vinsanto. The grapes were taken to the winery’s
Vinsantaia (left), a special attic where the bunches were hung
from chains tied to the rafters and dried. The grapes are never
touched during the maturation process. The windows were kept
open in the Vinsantaia for the next few months, ensuring that the
air in the large room was constantly being circulated. On February
10, once the grapes’ sugar levels were high enough, they were
pressed and the juice put through a natural process of clarification.
The highly-concentrated must was then fermented in small
caratelli oak barrels already containing madre (“mother”) – a
remnant of the thick residue left over from Vinsanto that had
already been bottled – for five years.
Density: n/d
The wine of the Mass.
There are many theories around the origin of the name of this wine but most likely the name comes from the use of this wine during the Mass. In February the dried grapes of Trebbiano and Malvasia are softly pressed. The must is then slowly fermented with indigenous yeats for 5 years to produce Volpaia's Vinsanto. The drying of the grapes and the wine aging happen in the Vinsantaia, an attic, where the extreme temperature excurtions help the slow evolution of the Vinsanto.
Density: n/d
The wine of the Mass.
There are many theories around the origin of the name of this wine but most likely the name comes from the use of this wine during the Mass. In February the dried grapes of Trebbiano and Malvasia are softly pressed. The must is then slowly fermented with indigenous yeats for 5 years to produce Volpaia's Vinsanto. The drying of the grapes and the wine aging happen in the Vinsantaia, an attic, where the extreme temperature excurtions help the slow evolution of the Vinsanto.