Best Italian Dessert Wines from Vin Santo, Moscadello & More

Ep 101

This is the last of my Italian wine mini-series and we have to talk about Italian dessert wines! Plus, I’m going to share with you my favorite dessert wine ever!

From the late harvests, noble rot, and even frozen grapes, we will dive into the processes that give these Italian dessert wines their characteristic sweetness. Discover why certain wines retain their residual sugar and how methods like Passito enrich the wine's flavors.

You’ll discover wines like Vin Santo, Moscadello di Montalcino, and Recioto della Valpolicella. Think maraschino cherries and dark chocolate flavors. And if you aren’t a fan of sweet wine, I’ll be sharing some other options that might just make you a fan of dessert wine after all!

So, if you are ready to venture into the amazing world of Italian dessert wines then this episode is for you!

Resources

5 Lesser Known Italian White Wines You Must Try - https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-99

Is Vermouth a Wine or a Liquor? https://www.corkandfizz.com/blog/guide-to-wine-podcast-episode-90

Trader Joe’s Snack and Wine Pairing Guide https://corkandfizz.myflodesk.com/dlyr59hlle

Passito Wines

Marche - Verdicchio de Castelli de Jesi Passito, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba Passito

Lombardy - Valcalepio Moscato Passito, Lugana Moscato Passito

Piedmont and Aosta Valley - Moscato d'Asti, Piemonte Moscato Passito

Sicily - Erice Passito

Sardinia - Carignano del Sucis Passito

Episode Highlights:

• Understanding Italian dessert wines

• Methods for making dessert wines - late harvest, drying grapes into raisins, Noble rot, Ice wine

• Vin Santo - flavor profile and pairing recommendations

• Introduction to Passito wines

• Moscadello di Montalcino - history and flavor profile

• Recioto della Valpolicella - history and flavor profile

• Barolo Chinato

Don't Forget to Download my Free Wine Tasting Guide! - https://www.corkandfizz.com/free-wine-tasting-guide

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Transcript

0:09

Interested in learning about wine, but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. I'm your host, Haley Bullman, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle based wine tasting business Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in. Welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. If you're new here, welcome. So glad to have you. And for those that have been around a while, it's so nice to have you back. Today is the last episode of the Italian wine miniseries. I really hope you've enjoyed this deep dive into the world of wine. I'd love for you to reach out. Let me know. What else do you wanna know about Italy? Like, what did I miss? And what should the theme of my next miniseries be? Okay. Before I have us thinking all about the future, let's get back to today's episode. We need to talk about Italian dessert wine. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret here. Italy is home to my favorite dessert wine in the world, and I can't wait to tell you about it. Let's dive in. Okay. Before we get into specific types of dessert wine, let's talk about how we make dessert wine. Now the first thing to keep in mind is how we just make wine in general. Right? So how does the sugar come into play? When we're making wine, you have your grape juice, which has sugar in it. Right? And then we're going to introduce yeast. Now there's either yeast that just exists in the winery or on the skins of the grapes, Or we can add yeast just like we would add yeast in making bread. Now the yeast, I like to imagine the yeast looks like Pac Man. They're these little, you know, the little yellow guy that goes around and eats all the dots. That's what the yeast looks like in my head. And it's gonna go around and all the sugar becomes all the little dots, and the yeast is gonna go around and eat all the sugar that I can find. Now as it does that, it produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. That's how we turn grape juice into wine, how we create the alcohol. Now typically, yeast left on its own is going to eat all the sugar it possibly can, most of the time eating all of it, leaving the wine dry, AKA no sugar left behind. We call that fermenting the wine dry. The thing is dessert wine obviously has sugar. Right? So we need a way to stop the yeast from eating all the sugar. And there are two ways that this can happen. First, you can halt the fermentation, and there are a few different ways to do that. You're basically gonna stop the yeast in its tracks and say, uh-uh. No more no more sugar. We're done. Or it is possible that the grape juice itself can be so decadent and so full of sugar that there is too much sugar for the yeast to eat. They get full tummies before they can eat all of the sugar. Now the most common ways of making a dessert wine are going to be late harvest. So this is where they leave the grapes on the vines longer, and this is how they will develop a lot of sugar. This is an example of one of those where oftentimes there's gonna be too much sugar for the yeast to eat. We could dry the grapes and actually dry them into raisins. I'm gonna talk a little bit more about this with our specific styles of wine. There's also noble rot. So this is where the grape it's actually it is actually a rot, believe it or not. It's a it's a mold that develops on the grapes, and it pokes a little hole in the grape essentially, which then causes all of the the water to kind of squeeze out of the grape. And you're left with these little shriveled grapes on the vine. And it's actually a good thing, believe it or not. It adds positive flavors to the wine. And again, we're getting more of a shriveled grape, so you're gonna have a more concentrated juice, more sugar. And then lastly, there is ice wine, and this is where the grapes are left to freeze on the vine. Again, we're basically finding ways to, like, remove the water. Like, we want more of that concentrated sugar. So with ice wine, the water freezes, and then when they press the grapes, you're gonna end up with more sugar in the concentrated juice because a lot of that water is kept in the ice form. So those are all versions where there's too much sugar, usually too much sugar for the yeast to eat. If the yeast are pretty strong and have, you know, are are feeling really hungry, the winemakers can have the option to halt the fermentation as well. Just a quick reminder, you are not on my mailing list yet. What are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under$15. Head to korkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now let's get back to the show. Okay. Let's dive into the different styles of wine. Let's see. I have one, two, three, four. I have four for you today, that we're going to talk about. And I know for some of you listening, you're like, Hailey, I just don't like dessert wine. I don't get it. It's too sweet. It's too syrupy. Listen. I totally understand. But I still think it's worth it to learn about these different styles, and you never know. Next time you're out, just give one a try at the end of your meal. See what you think. Right? Or share a bottle with a friend. See what you guys think. I think there is a place in the wine world for dessert wine. And a lot of times they get a bad rep. They can be called syrupy and overly done, but the best ones have such a beautiful balance between the sweetness and between the brightness of the wine that it is just perfect at the end of a meal. So that's what I want you to think about while we're talking about these. Okay. I'm not gonna bury the lead here. I'm gonna start with my favorite dessert wine in the world, which is from Italy. It is called Vinsanto, and it is absolutely perfect at the end of a meal. All the versions that I've had have never been too syrupy, though it does appear quite viscous. You'll see it looks thick. It is super aromatic and just downright tasty. It is so well balanced between this really luscious sweetness and a nice bright acidity. I I love it. I every time whenever I see it on a menu at an Italian restaurant, I usually try to save room so I can have a little glass of Vansanto at the end. Now Vansanto is also special to me because it is a wine that I got to see being made, and it also connects me to a trip I took actually before I got really into wine. I think I just started no. I think it was before the pandemic. So it was before I started Cork and Fizz, but after I took that trip to Willamette Valley, that made me, like, desire to learn everything I could about wine. Right? So funny story, my in laws were actually going to Italy, and my husband at the time was working a job where he was a consultant, so he traveled a lot. And that meant he had a lot of points, and so his parents invited us to join them in Italy. We were incredibly lucky. They covered the expense of the lodging. We just had to get there, and my husband had points. So we flew to Italy. And while we were there, we did a lot of fun things, but we did visit one winery. And at that winery, they showed us how they made VIN SANTO. So we got to go into the room to see all of the mats that were covered in these drying grapes. They were drying the grapes out on these straw mats, and we'll talk a little bit more about how it's made. Don't worry. I'll go into detail. Then we went up into the top of the winery where there were rooms where they were aging the Vinsanto, which is kind of crazy because normally sellers are like down below, which is so interesting that these were up high. This wine, Vinsanto, the first time I tried it, I remember thinking like when they poured it in the glass and gave it to us, I was like, oh my god. This is so much alcohol, but it just smells like alcohol. It's actually usually only around 14%, though they can get up into 18 or 19%. So so be careful. Take a look at the bottle before you have a sip. And it is the perfect wine to go with a biscotti. It's actually what's recommended to pair with it. They call it Cantucci e vin santo, and that is your biscotti with e vin santo. Aroma wise, right, I'm saying it's super aromatic in terms of, like, what kind of aromas. You're gonna get this hazelnut, caramel, honey, tropical fruit, ginger, almond, and dried apricot, which, like, if your mouth isn't watering, my friend, you need to try this wine. I'm telling you. And, also, just a heads up, this is not related to the dessert wine of Greece, which is also called Vinsanto, but without a space in the middle. I don't know. I mean, it's the wine of the the holy wine. Right? So I'm sure other people are gonna take that name. Now let's dive into a little bit more about Vinsanto. So history wise, it is primarily made in Tuscany, though you can find it throughout all of Italy. The name translates to holy wine, and there are lots of theories as to where this name comes from, but the most popular theory comes from the fact that the grapes are fermented around Easter in the spring after they have dried. Now speaking of drying the grapes, let's talk a little bit more about how this wine is made. So first, the grapes are harvested, and they are brought in and laid out on straw mats to dry for many months. This is a process called passito, p a s s I t o, and you're actually gonna see this word with a lot of other styles of dessert wine in Italy. So just know that that means that they dried the grapes out. They basically become raisins. Air drying basically reduces the amount of water and concentrates the natural flavors and the sugars. You might also see grapes suspended from trellises as another way to dry them out rather than the straw mats. Then these literal raisins are pressed for their juice. Like, who came up with this? Like, who was like, yeah. We should press that. That raisin will totally produce some juice for us. But once they do that, they press the juice and they keep the skins with it, and they place it into special barrels called carataline. And they sit and they wait for fermentation to happen, and they wait until it happens naturally. They will not encourage it, And this all happens in the aging room, which is called the vin santella. I think I said that right. As mentioned earlier, fermentation typically happens in the spring, which is where the name only wine came from for Easter. Just as it starts to warm up. Right? The the yeast can actually kinda sleep and stay dormant when it's cooler, and so they need warmer temperatures to actually start moving and doing their thing. The fermentation process can stop and start, and it'll kinda go with the seasons, and it can take up to four years to complete. So it might go throughout the summer and then stop once it gets cooler in the fall and the winter, and then start back up again next in the spring. And it just it takes a long time. The yeast move very slowly through this very luscious, you know, sweet syrupy. I shouldn't say syrupy because it makes it sound bad, but this very just, you know, sweet wine. And what's cool is that these barrels that they use to age and ferment the wine are only used for vin santo. So they start to develop their own yeast mother or mandre. And then this is considered the secret ingredient in vin santo. It is the thick layer of lees and old vin santo. So remember, lees are dead yeast cells. So it's after the yeast has eaten all the sugar it can, it dies and become lees, l e e s. And so we've got a thick layer of lees and also old vincento. It's leftover at the bottom of those barrels from multiple previous generations, And Madre basically retains that special house flavor of Vinsanto and passes it onto the newly added juice. Now we talked about Vinsanto is most commonly made in Tuscany, or at least that's what most people think of, but it is actually made in multiple different regions, and it can be made from different grapes depending on the region. So in Tuscany, they commonly use Trebbiano or Malveggia. There's also a red version of Vincenzo. So those grapes are both white, the Trebbiano and Malveggia. But there's also a red version of Vincenzo called Occhio de Penis, which is the eye of the partridge, and it is made mostly from Sangiovese and Malveggia nera. Those are red grapes. In the region of Trentino, they actually use this rare aromatic grape called Nociola, and this tastes like a cross between a Viognier and a Gewurztraminer, so lots of aromas happening. In Veneto, they use the suave grape known as garganaga. If you wanna learn more, I think I mentioned garganaga in the previous episode. Not the one just before this, but maybe two before this when we talked about the five white wines that I'd recommend from Italy. And then lastly, in Marche, there's a wine called Vinsanto di Ophida, which is made with the rare Passarina grape, which as a dry wine has these notes of sweet Meyer lemon and fresh fennel. And as I mentioned before, passito wines basically means a wine made from dried out grapes. And there are other versions of passito wines beyond just VIN SANTO. Now keep in mind, they don't have the same aging or natural fermentation process requirements that VIN SANTO has, but they could be similar in style and taste because they are made in a similar way. So in the region of Marce, you're gonna find Verdecchio de Castilla de Jessie Passito and La Crema di Mora de Alba Passito. We can also put I'll put all of these in the show notes because you're probably like, Haley, I don't know what you're saying because I'm also trying to say it in an Italian accent, and I don't know if I'm doing it right. Okay. Region of Lombardi, you're gonna find Vasileppio moscato passito and Lugano moscato I'll give you one guess as to what grape you think those are made out of. It's Moscato. Then we have Piedmont in the Aosta Valley. So in this region, this is where you'll find Moscato De Asti. Right? You'll also find Piemonte Moscato Passito, and Valele Augusta Moscato Passito. In Sicily, you're gonna find Erice Passito. And then in Sardinia, you're gonna find a Carignano del Sulcis passito, which is a red version of a wine made from dried grapes. Now as I'm sure as you were listening to that, there is a lot of Moscato. I know I tend to think of just Moscato de Asti, but Moscato is actually a family of aromatic grapes known for their delightful tropical and floral flavors. In many of these, these passito wines can show just how special moscato is. Speaking of moscato, let's talk about our next dessert wine. So like I said, you gotta try Vinson though if you have not yet, but there are other dessert wines in Italy and we better talk about them. Hey, wine lover. Interested in trying new wines but not sure where to start? Or maybe you've been thinking, I'd love to taste wine live with Haley. I mean, who isn't thinking that? Well, say hello to the Court Crew, my virtual tasting club where wine meets fun, learning, and the best happy hour you've ever had, all from the comfort of your couch. Every month, we explore a new wine theme together. You'll get expert tips, delicious food pairings, and stories that bring each bottle to life. You can order the feature wines from my partner shop, grab something similar locally, or just sip whatever you've already got. No pressure and no wine purchase required in this club. In 2025, I've made this club even better. You get to choose between two tasting dates each month and everything is recorded so you can catch up any time. We've also just launched our exclusive Court Crew app, where you'll find all of your event info, wine recommendations, community connection, all in one place. It is accessible via your phone or your computer. As a member, you'll also get six free guest passes, so you can invite friends, quarterly wine trivia nights, winemaker Q and A's, a private online community, discounts on private tastings, and so much more. And when I say everyone is welcome, I mean everyone. Whether you're brand new to wine or a total cork dork like me, you'll fit right in. Loud or quiet, wine curious, or wine obsessed, this space is for you. Join today and get your first two months for just $8 a month. I mean, heck, that's like a drink at Starbucks. Use code wine special, no spaces, or you can save $80 on the yearly membership. When you sign up for the annual subscription, use code wine special dash year. Head to the courtcrew.com, that's the courtcrew.com, to sign up, and I'll see you at our next tasting. Cheers. So one of those is molcadero di montocino. This is a delicious passito wine, also passito, so made from dried grapes, from Toscana made following ancient traditions. It is in from an appellation that lies on the exact same land as the famous Brunello di Montalcino, which we talked about this in our sangiovese episode from a couple weeks ago. If you wanna learn more about this region, go listen to that episode. Now our Moscadero di Montocino must be based on at least 85% Moscadero Bianco by law. Moscadero is the local name for Moscadero Bianco. It can be finished as still, so no bubbles, or frizzante. Slightly sweet. It can also be made in a late harvest version called Vendemia Cardiva. Now if they make it as a still wine, it has to be a minimum of four and a half percent alcohol. The residual sugar, so the sugar left over after fermentation, has to be a minimum of 2% potential alcohol, which is equivalent to about 46 grams per liter of sugar. That's a decent amount. Frisante has to be at least 7% alcohol, and if they make a late harvest version called Vendemia tardiva, It has to be at least 11 and a half percent alcohol. The residual sugar has to be at least 3.5% potential alcohol, which is equivalent to approximately 60 grams per liter of sugar, and it is a minimum of one year aging before release. Terms of flavors for our Muscadillo di Montalcino, you have orange blossom and other white flowers, tangerine jelly, grapefruit nectar, all of these kind of just very aromatic things tend to dominate. It is very exclusive from I was reading a couple different sources. There are only about 10 to 25 hectares planted of Moscato Bianco or Moscadello in Montalcino because so much of that area is dedicated to Brunello or the Sangiovese of that region. So you can really only find this. I think there's about 11 producers of Moscadillo di Montalcino. So if you ever get a chance to try it, jump at it. It is worth the opportunity. Now this next wine, I haven't tried this version of it, but there are other versions of it that I have tried. And when I say it, it might sound familiar. This next one is called Resiotto de la Valpolicella. Now, if you watch me on Instagram, if you're in the core crew, you'll know I'm a little obsessed with Valpolicella. I think I recommended it in the Trader Joe's snack and wine guide, which if you're like, wait, you have a Trader Joe's snack and wine guide? Yeah. What are you doing? Head to my website. It's on there. Just scroll down. There's a little video of me talking about it on the news. And, there's a great snack and wine guide that includes a Valpolicella. The thing is it includes a dry version of the Valpolicella. And we're going to talk about the dessert wine version right now. This is a noble ancient wine that has been known since the fourth century AD. It tastes like maraschino cherries and dark chocolate. It is made from three red grapes called corvina, corvinone, and rondinella, which is also known as the Valpolicella formula. And so whether it's a dry or a sweet wine, they use these grapes. Valpolicella is the region, so it's not the name of the grapes. Right? We talked about corvina, corvinone, and rondinella as the grapes. Valpolicella is actually the region that it's from, which is located in Northern Italy in the region of Veneto. Again, these grapes are air dried appacimiento, and it is in a similar way to amaroni. If you ever heard of amaroni, the full name of amaroni is amaroni della valpolicella, which is just another style of this wine, but it is vinified dry, meaning they do not leave any sugar behind. For rasciotto, you stop the fermentation by chilling the wine. You get it cold. You freeze the yeast once it reaches the desired level of alcohol, so then you are left with sugar behind. Now other regions in Italy can make recioto wine, but it is not super common. So, generally, if you see recioto, just r e c I o t o, it is often it typically refers to recioto de la Valpolicella. Okay. Onto our last dessert wine, which is actually an aromatic wine. So if you remember our episode on vermouth from a while ago, I may I think we talked about this or at least I mentioned it. It is called Barolo Cinnato, and it might sound familiar, like I said, from the episode on vermouth. It is an aromatized wine that is produced within the Barolo DOCG. It is enriched with cinchona calisaya bark, rhubarb, and Denysian root, and precious cardamom seeds whose active principles are extracted with the slow maceration at room temperature. So basically how it's made, you have a starting point of your Barolo wine, which is like some of the best wine in the world. Right? So you're starting with some of the best wine ever. They add sugar and alcohol, and then in the form of cold infusion of alcohol and drugs, which are nothing more than spices, herbs, and some roots. Basically, everything you need to make a vermouth. Sugar is usually added to the wine before bottling as well to add a little hint of sweetness. In terms of how to drink this wine, it's a little different because it is aromatized and it sometimes is higher alcohol. So it's typically served at room temperature at the end of a meal, or even steam heated with orange zest. That sounds pretty good. Flavor wise, it is this crazy symphony where you get the typical hints of nebbiolo. So you've got this like earthy violet licorice plus blended with this balsamic spicy, vanilla, and very herbaceous notes from all those herbs and roots that you added in. Historically, this was used as an elixir to fight off winter colds and restore energy. And I don't know about you, but I think I would rather drink vermouth when I'm sick than the darn cough syrup. But, alas, I think the cough syrup probably works a little better. Okay. Those are the dessert wines of Italy. There are definitely more, but these are kind of the top ones and the ones that you should keep an eye out for. So look for Vincento, Moscadello di Montalcino, Resciotto della Valpolicella, and Barolo Cinnato. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine Podcast. If you loved it as much as I did, I would so appreciate it if you could take a quick second, rate it, leave a review. This is also the end of our Italian wine miniseries. If you like this, let me know. I would love to do more miniseries in the future. Let me know what the topic should be. Now, in next week's episode, we're going back to our interviews. I I know, I know, I owe you an interview because we skipped over them for the mini series. So we're ready to do two interviews in a row. So the next four episodes, all interviews. It's gonna be so fun. The next two will be, an interview with with Tyler Balliet. And Tyler this is so cool to have Tyler on the show. I'm so excited that she's gonna be here. Tyler is is an entrepreneur and journalist who's been reshaping how people experience wine since 02/2006. She cofounded Rose Mansion, which is this massive rose themed wine playground in New York City that drew over 225,000 visitors, and she cofounded Wine Riot, which is a touring wine festival with over a 50,000 attendees. She's been named to wine enthusiast 40 under 40 and has been judging international wine competitions, exploring wine regions around the world, and has been featured on places like Good Morning America, CNN, and the New York Times. And somehow, she's coming on my show, on the Cork and Phys Guide to Wine podcast to talk to us. And she's coming to talk to us about her new book, The Rebel School of Wine, which is this bold, visually driven manifesto all on the world of wine for the new generation of wine drinkers. And did I mention we are doing a special giveaway in the next podcast? Tyler wants to give one of you lovely listeners one of her books. So be sure to tune in next week while we talk about that. Thanks again for listening. And if you wanna learn more about wine, come follow me at cork and fizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines and joining incredible community of wine lovers, be sure to sign up for my virtual tasting club, The Court Crew. Head to thecourtcrew.com to learn more and use code WINE SPECIAL to get your first two months for just $8 a month. Cheers.