Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, 2010

Recently, we put on a wine dinner for a church fundraiser. It was a great, fun night full of good food and wine, but the most surprising part was the absolutely delicious wine we tasted at the end.

Our food was along an Italian theme, so we went with Italian wine. And since it was a church fundraiser, we leaned a little into the church theme as well. What better wine to finish on, then, than a Vin Santo?

We present to you, the best Vin Santo we’ve ever had bar none:

Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, 2010

“Vin Santo” translates to “holy wine,” as it used to be used as the wine in Catholic Masses in Italy.

This absolute joy was like drinking liquid gold, like the angels themselves were playing their harps for you. It smelled like melted caramel and toffee, and it tasted like extremely ripe yellow peaches—the delicious Colorado Palisades peaches. It’s smooth and thick and luscious in your mouth with a long finish.

This is a dessert wine, made by drying out grapes until they’re like raisins to concentrate the sugar. It’s not a fortified wine like port, where extra alcohol is added, so it’s more delicate than port. Because of the way they’re made, some Vin Santos can taste kind of raisiny, but not this beauty. This is everything a dessert wine should be.

It’s just… exceptional. What a perfect end to a great evening.

This wine sells for $93 at Jacob Liquor. We know it’s pricey, but if you’re wanting a dessert wine for a special occasion, you can’t go wrong with this.