Vin Santo and dessert

[Steve Klc]

Perhaps you'd be willing to comment on a few of your favorite Vin Santos, David, and why you recommend them--and also speak a bit to some your favorite desserts at Babbo that proved to be good wine matches for Vin Santo?

The first olive oil ice cream I ever had in New York was at Babbo, in a wonderful dessert with pumpkin seeds. How easy or difficult has it been for you to create wine matches across the whole dessert menu?

[David Lynch]

It is very difficult to pair wines with our desserts. Our pastry chef, Gina DePalma, is one of the best in the country, but what I find (and she finds) is that the American palate craves very sweet desserts. I find that a very sweet dessert and a sweet wine make for a cloying pairing. The Italians typically have dry cakes or biscotti with their Vin Santo, so that the unctuousness of the wine is not drowned out by similarly unctuous food. Gina is making a wonderful, simple almond cake right now that is terrific with Vin Santo. In general, keep it simple when trying to showcase this wine.

Favorite Vin Santo Producers:

Capezzana

Isole e Olena

Avignonesi (big bucks though)

[LaNiña]

Speaking of after dinner drinks...I had dinner last week at Lupa (I'm not sure you have anything to do with the wine there) and we had some marvelous amari after dinner. They varied incredibly from one to the next, and Jonathan was kind enough to bring me a sample of one that he's not allowed to sell, and it was very interesting and rich.

Can you talk a bit about amari - how they're made, what to look out for, what's difficult to find, how to navigate the purchase (in a restaurant or retail) of them?