Making the perfect dessert is not easy. When it comes to making curry or rice, you can change the recipe here and there and still get good results. But with desserts, you can follow the recipe and still end up with poor results.
As a result, people pay extra attention to every detail in the recipe when making a dessert so they can avoid any disasters and succeed in their tasks.
Wine is a pretty common ingredient in desserts. But you can’t use just any type of wine in a dessert and expect to get the best results.
However, some recipes mention wines that aren’t available everywhere. As a result, people have to look for other options.
Vin Santo Wine is a classic Italian wine and is often used in desserts. It can help increase the flavor and intensity of whichever dessert you are adding it to.
But Vin Santo is not common or easy to find in any area and is only vastly available in Southern Europe.
Not to worry though, as there are many Vin Santo replacements, and this list contains the best out of all of them, depending on ratings, research, and opinions.
5 Best VIN Santo Substitutes
To maintain the authenticity of a dessert, people want to get every ingredient that is mentioned in the recipe. But sometimes, that’s just not possible.
If you live in Australia, you might not be able to get an ingredient that is only produced and distributed in India.
As a result, you will have to make a compromise. But you can find the best alternatives for such an ingredient so you can achieve the perfect taste.
Listed below are the wines you can use in desserts when you can’t find Vin Santo anywhere. These alternatives might be substitutes for Vin Santo, but keep in mind that they all have their unique zest and taste.
Nevertheless, these wines are sure to make your dessert scrumptious, and certainly one of a kind. With all that said, feel free to read the rest of the list.
1. Sauternes
Sauternes is a wine that was made in France but since then, has become common throughout Western Europe. It has a subtle, fruity taste, with hints of apricot and peaches.
The wine does not have a particularly strong flavor and mostly tastes sweetened. This makes it the perfect wine to add to your dessert. There are surprisingly many versions of the Sauternes wine.
When the wine started to have greater reach to other parts of Europe, many countries started adding their own modifications to the wine, and some even made it completely different.
It is quite common for people to mix new ingredients to wine or try to prepare it in a different way once it becomes popular.
So, even if you manage to get your hands on Vin Santo in your city, there is a high chance that it won’t be anywhere like the original Vin Santo. But if you get Sauternes, you can be sure of one thing that it will have a sweet taste.
Keep that in mind when adding it to your dessert so you can change the rest of the recipe accordingly. But if you like extra sweetness in your dessert, then you don’t have to worry about the taste of Sauternes.
The original Sauternes is a very rare wine. It has a unique, especially honey-like taste, and it is the ideal dessert wine. The cost of the wine might be a bit over the top, but you would not regret pairing it with your dessert.
2. Tokaji
Tokaji wine is mostly known by the name Tokay. Although it originated in Hungary, it can be found in almost every country of the world today.
Tokay wine has a great balance of intensity, acidity, and sweetness. It is also enhanced by noble rot infections, which is a fungus that grows on particular grapes.
Now, I know that a fungus might seem bad, but it actually enhances the taste of the wine and makes it much better.
There are many different kinds of Tokaji wines. In fact, the choices are so diverse, that one could taste a new wine every day of their life.
Tokaji wine can add an exciting essence and distinctive taste to your dessert, making it a great Vin Santo alternative.
If you are not sure which variety of Tokaji you should add to your dessert, you can visit the local wine seller to try them out. You can pick the variety depending on how you want your dessert to taste.
Whichever variety of Tokaji wine you pick, you can rest assured that it will be sweet. It is the intensity of the taste that varies from one variety to the next.
3. Muscat de Beaumes de Venise
Beaumes de Venise wines are known for their fragrant and refreshing taste. These wines were also first prepared in France.
These wines are prepared from the grains of Muscat Blancà Petit (white wine of Greek origin) which gives the wine its original and exclusive taste.
This wine has a very inventive technique for being prepared, which is called mutage. The uncut groups of grapes are carefully checked with several procedures to make sure they have reached the ideal ripeness level.
The grapes that are harvested must contain a minimum sugar level of 252 grams per liter. The finished wine is pale golden in color and has delicate fruit hints.
The sweet aroma and taste of this wine make it the perfect ingredient for a dessert. But it is important that you get the original Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.
If the wine isn’t prepared by following the original recipe, it won’t taste very good. It also won’t make a good addition to your dessert.
4. Ice wine
Ice wine, also known as Eiswein in German, is actually a made-for-dessert wine. It is acquired from frozen grapes and that’s what makes it one of the best substitutes of Vin Santo Substitute.
The frozen grapes have a unique icy taste of honey and juicy fruit matter that doesn’t freeze but stays in an icy water state. This gives the wine its thick consistency.
The frozen concentrated juicy grapes are pressed under high pressure to get the desired amount of thick, sweet wine. The ice wines are best served with desserts that are eaten in frozen forms.
But unlike the grapes of other usual wines, like Sauternes or Tokaji, the grapes of ice wine are never affected by any kind of noble rot infection. So, when you try Ice wine, you will get a pure taste that is unmatched.
Although you can add this wine to your dessert recipe as a substitute for Vin Santo, it is also ideal for serving guests with desserts.
Whenever you are eating a frozen dessert like ice cream cake, pair it with Ice wine and you will enjoy it even more.
5. Sherry
Sherry is a Spanish fortified Vin Santo Substitute wine that is made with white grapes. These are unique kinds of grapes that grow in Andalusia, Spain.
Sherry is prepared in a selection of styles from a selective grape type that ranges from only some light versions to pure white grapes. This is why the resulting wines are also somewhat similar in colors.
To give them their darker shade, the wines are stored in barrels and allowed to be oxidized for long intervals.
Due to its uniqueness, Sherry has become quite popular around the world. The taste of white grapes makes Sherry different from other wines. Adding it to a dessert is definitely a good idea.
Your dessert will also get a unique taste that your guests will never stop talking about. But it is best to make sure that Sherry goes well with the kind of dessert you are making before you try to mix it with other ingredients.
However, if you decide not to add Sherry to your dessert, you can always enjoy it with dinner.
Conclusion
Some of the best desserts in the world like Tiramisu cannot be prepared without wine. But each dessert recipe can only be made with a certain kind of wine.
If you try making tiramisu with wine other than Marsala, its taste will get affected. But in some situations, the wine mentioned in the recipe is quite rare.
Therefore, people may not be able to find it in any store in their city or even in their country. In such a situation, they will have to turn to other options.
There are many wines that have a similar taste. If you want to make a dessert with Vin Santo as an ingredient but you can’t find the wine anywhere, you can always go for a substitute.
A substitute may change the taste of the dessert slightly, but it’s better than not making dessert at all. If you can’t find Vin Santo, you can still go ahead with a recipe.
The substitutes for Vin Santo mentioned above will help you make delicious desserts for you and your family.