Maybe not everyone knows the Vino Santo del Trentino, and maybe someone confuses it with other similar wines, but the Vino Santo that we are going to tell you about is a wine from Trentino, which boasts the label Slow Food Presidium.
This special raisin wine of the North is also called "passito dei passiti", because it is the wine that boasts the longest natural drying process. Tradition dictates that it is made using only Nosiola grapes, of which only the sparse bunches, i.e. those with the ripest berries, well formed and spaced out, must be harvested. The grapes grow only in some old vineyards exposed to the sun, more suitable for such a long drying process. The bunches of grapes are in fact harvested late, in October, and then placed to dry on the so-called arèle, which at one time were made of cane racks, and today are made of thick metal netting, placed in sheltered and ventilated attics.
The constant ventilation, guaranteed by the Garda wind, the Ora, together with the special position of the bunches of grapes, allows for ideal drying, with a drop of up to 80% in weight, also due to the formation of a particular noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) on the grapes.
The drying process continues until the Holy Week of the following spring, when it is finally possible to proceed with the rite of pressing, which traditionally takes place at Easter or thereabouts. This is why it is called Vino Santo. The wine is then filtered and received in spent oak barrels (which are no longer capable of releasing hints of wood into the wine). Just think that from 100 kilos of fresh grapes, you get just 15-18 litres of Vino Santo must. Definitely a precious nectar!
Vino Santo is left to age in small barrels for at least six to eight years, as long as the natural fermentation process can last. After bottling, this wine has a very long life, it can be kept even for fifty years.
