A recipe calls for Vin Santo wine and I can't find it. I have Madeira, Marsala, Ice Wine or Tawny Port. Would any of those work?

I'm attempting a prune filled gnocchi with a foie gras sauce (Barbara Lynch), the base of the sauce is the reduced Vin Santo wine. Any thoughts on replacement wine?

Leah H
  • Posted by: Leah H
  • March 9, 2014
  • 43314 views
  • 9 Comments

9 Comments

Kenny S.
Kenny S. January 21, 2017
Pinot Grigio mixed with some brandy work great.
 
Maedl
Maedl March 9, 2014
Please do not ruin a delicate ice wine by cooking it! Not all vin santo is sweet, and you should be fine with marsala or madeira.
 
Maedl
Maedl March 9, 2014
Sorry, I hit the return before I finished. I also think you could use a sherry to substitute. A wine other than vin santo won't ruin the dish--it may give it a slightly different flavor, but that isn't so bad.
 
Nancy
Nancy January 22, 2017
Agree with Margie about NOT using (great, usually expensive) ice wine instead of Vin Santo. Keep it for drinking, if you're lucky enough to have some.
Two alternatives to use in cooking (if no Royal Tokaj available) are Sauternes or Riesling on the sweeter end of the continuum.
 
Dessito
Dessito March 9, 2014
The only times I've had Vin Santo was as a dipping liquid for cantucci in Florence. So, yes, as another commenter said, it's most commonly seen as a sweet dessert wine. Sometimes, however, it can be drier and closer to sherry. I think your back-up choices listed would all do fine, but you should go by the specific taste and not the type in each bottle. In other words, anything you can imagine dipping a biscotto in would be fine.
 
sdebrango
sdebrango March 9, 2014
Vin santo is quite sweet so is ice wine in my experience. If your ice wine is sweet IMHO it would be a good sub,
 
Pegeen
Pegeen March 9, 2014
I'd think any of those would work just fine. Most of the alcohol will be cooked off and you want the deep grape-sediment taste that remains. So any of those should be good. Sounds delicious. Bon appetit!
 
Leah H.
Leah H. March 9, 2014
Hmm - I don't have Royal Tokaji :( It's 2 cups that you reduce to 1/4 cup - maybe I'll do a mix of madeira and marsala? Thank you!
 
Pegeen
Pegeen March 9, 2014
My Google search results all suggest using Royal Tokaji instead (Hungarian). What do you have in your cupboard? Are you only using a cup or so of the alcohol? I don't see how you could go far wrong with Madeira, Marsala or Port unless you were using a large amount to braise a huge cut of beef or lamb, etc. Sounds delicious.
 
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