STILL LIFE WITH VIN SANTO

This is my favourite dessert. It is vin santo and mandorilino biscotti. I first encountered it in a trattoria in the hills where we were given it after dinner -- on the house. We stared at it owlishly until the people at the next table were given it as well. They dipped their biscuits into the wine and slurped them up. We did the same. I think I heard a heavenly choir singing "halleluja."

It is a sweet wine, but not too sweet. The grapes for it are picked at the same time as other grapes but they are not pressed. They are spread out to dry and to mould a little. The mould adds to the flavour. The grapes are pressed in March and fermented, then aged in wooden barrels. Commercial producers have their own methods, of course. Individuals all have different and secret ways of making it. Changing the barrels to add flavour from different woods is one twist. The barrels have a hole in the top to allow for evaporation and thickening.

By tradition, it is a celebratory wine and brought out for weddings, births, christenings, birthdays and Christmas but any time will do. Normally, we have it after dinner but that's too late to blip so I made the sacrifice and had it after lunch. Himself was too horrified by the change in routine so I had his, too.

You can buy vin santo at any price. The light coloured bottle cost 12 euros, the dark one, my favourite cost 14 euros, 1997 and 1998. Really old vin santo can cost in the hundreds. I've never tasted any that cost that much. I don't think I could swallow anything so expensive. (I could try, however.)

The quality of the biscuit counts for a lot. They should be hard and studded with lots of almonds. Having said that, any biscuit will do providing it doesn't melt and fall into the glass.

For the record: Cold and wet. CNN shows temperatures going up and rain coming down for the next ten days. Alessandro brought a dish of hot olives cooked in a tomato sauce. This is the first time I've had olives cooked as a veggie and again, I thought I heard the heavenly choir. They were unbelievably delicious. When he returns I will extract the recipe from him, try it myself and blip them if they make a pretty picture. They certainly made a pretty lunch along with some smoked cheese and Tuscan bread. Dozens of Christmas cards in the post including a calendar of bird photographs by my cousin, Marlene, in Canada. She is an ardent birder/twitcher and takes incredible pictures of them.

Picture taken next to window with an unfortunate red fleece throw left tossed over the outside balcony railing in the rain. Available light.