A period dish

Vin Santo

A sweet amber wine made from dried grapes and served with biscuits at the end of a meal.

Serves 12

Vin Santo was made by drying grapes on racks through the winter and pressing them in spring, then aging the must in small barrels. It was sweet, strong, and the traditional wine for dipping biscuits at the close of a meal.

Ingredients

Produce

  • 10 lb white grapes

Method

  1. Press partially dried white grapes and collect the must.

  2. Pour the must into small wooden barrels and seal them.

  3. Let the wine ferment and age slowly for at least two years.

  4. Draw off the clear wine from the lees.

  5. Serve it cool in small glasses with almond biscuits or panforte.

Served at

After the Pazzi conspiracy · Florence, Italy

The garden at San Marco · Florence, Italy

A countess holds her court · Forlì, Italy

A Borgia table in Rome · Rome, Italy

The duke's banquet · Rome, Italy

A study in exile · Florence, Italy

A commonwealth imagined · London, England

The printer's house · Basel, Switzerland

A supper near Calais · Calais, France

The Diet at Augsburg · Augsburg, Germany

An evening at Fontainebleau · Fontainebleau, France