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The traditional Santorini Vinsanto wine

The traditional Santorini vinsanto wine. Here a bottle from Kamaritis, year 1993
The traditional Santorini vinsanto wine. Here a bottle from Kamaritis, year 1993

“Welcome” to Santorini means to enjoy a glass of Vinsanto. The fabulous wine with the bronze colour and the sweet aftertaste which can be enjoyed not only as aperitif, but also as a dessert after a good meal or dinner.

In antiquity, the Aegean islands -or else Cyclades- were known for producing “passos” that is the sun-dried wines. So, Vinsanto is considered to continue this tradition. The Orthodox Church uses wine for the Holly Mass and this wine, the Vino santo or, as it was called on the island, the vino di Santorini, extracted to Russia since 1786, to be used especially in the Divine Liturgy.

Vinsanto is a wine of Designation of Origin of Superior Quality (D.O.S.Q). It owes its wonderful taste to the ten-to-fifteen days sun-dried grapes of September, from the variety of grapes Asyrtiko (51% proof, according to the legislation) and to the match-making with other varieties of grapes as Athiri or Aidani. The sun-dried grape must that comes after pressing the grapes is kept in wooden barrels of at least four months until ferment is completed. After that, it is left to mature in oaken barrels for a period no less than two years. In the end, it is interesting to mention the aged Vinsanto wine that caresses the palate with a bouquet of aromas of chocolate, tobacco and cocoa.