Volpaia Vin Santo 2016 (375ml)

Alcohol: 15%

Grape(s): Trebbiano, Malvasia Bianca del Chianti

Localization: Tuscany, Italy

Tasting Notes: Scintillating amber. It is a full, balanced wine with intense, of cane sugar, apricot jam and sultan grapes. Warm and luscious with almond finish.

Notes: 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.

The Domain: Castello di Volpaia is located in an 11th-century village that bears the same name. It sits on a hilltop just north of the town of Radda in Chianti, 2,024 feet above sea level, in the heart of the Chianti Classico region. One of the most historical wineries of the region, Volpaia is owned by the Mascheroni-Stianti family and benefits from some of the highest altitude southern exposure vineyards of the area, delivering certified organic Sangiovese-based wines of finesse and elegance with a terroir approach.