Wines made from Grillo grapes of Vin Santo

Discover the best wines made with Grillo as a single variety or as a blend of Vin Santo.

More informations about the variety Grillo

A very ancient grape variety still grown today in western Sicily. Very often associated with catarratto and inzolia, it produces the famous Marsala liqueur wine. It is also increasingly being vinified as a single variety and produces excellent dry wines full of freshness and fruitiness. Grillo is believed to be the result of an intra-fertile cross between catarratto and Muscat of Alexandria or zibibbo, obtained in 1869 by Antonino Mendola. It is represented by two biotypes that can be easily recognized, but it seems that winegrowers attach little importance to them. Little known in other Italian regions - in Liguria it is known as "rossese bianco" - it can also be found in Australia and South Africa. It is not widely grown in France, although it is interesting because of its ability to withstand hot climates and drought, and to ripen quite late.

More informations about the region of Toscane

The wine region of Vin Santo is located in the region of Toscane of Italy. Wineries and vineyards like the Domaine San Giusto a Rentennano or the Domaine Lusignani produce mainly wines sweet, white and pink. The most planted grape varieties in the region of Vin Santo are Sangiovese et Grillo, they are then used in wines in blends or as a single variety. On the nose of Vin Santo often reveals types of flavors of honey, earth or non oak and sometimes also flavors of microbio, oak or tree fruit.

What are the typical flavors of the Grillo grape variety?

News about the grape variety Grillo

Aldo Fiordelli: ‘The east-facing vineyard absorbs the morning’s first sunlight’

I’m fortunate enough to taste a fair amount of fine wine each year and I have come to the conclusion that each of us is forced to build our own stylistic preferences, regardless of the appellation or classification of a wine. Instead of simply choosing a bottle of Bordeaux over Barolo, for example, most of us probably aim to drink each on the right occasion and, in doing so, carve out our individual preferences for these wines. My personal bias – which I must confess, to be fair and transp ...

Hugh Johnson: ‘Veteran wine books are by modern standards short on facts’

When you have an idea that, in your first flush of inspiration, you think deserves to get beyond the breakfast table, you run straight into the modern dilemma. Is it a Tweet? Is it one for Facebook or Instagram? Should you just try it out on your nearest and dearest, or is there a book in it? A slim volume, or does it need several tomes to expound its profundity? My trade being what it is, and royalties being as modest as they are these days, I’ve rather given up on books. Writing new ones, that ...

Hugh Johnson: ‘I’ve formed a bond with Grillo and flirted with Verdicchio’

I’d like to say we took advantage of the lockdown and its related commotion to do a stock-take, explore new avenues, turn over intriguing stones, widen and deepen our drinking, taking careful notes as we went. Sadly, no. I won’t say we got stuck in a rut, but we did tend to stick with comfort wines – and “comfort”, in our case, means familiar. Regular readers of this quarterly column can probably guess the labels on the resulting empties. We have a wider range of comfort foods, I’m afraid, than ...

Discover the best wines made with Grillo of Vin Santo