The origin of this name is the subject of several theories.
According to a version from Siena, a Franciscan friar utilized a wine that the confreres frequently used to celebrate Mass to treat the plague victims in 1348. The idea that this wine had magical qualities quickly spread, earning him the title of Holy Epithet.
Another account originates in Florence, where the Greek metropolitan Giovanni Bessarione declared, “This is the Xantos wine!” while sipping the Pretto wine before the Council of Florence in 1439. This may have been a reference to a particular Santorini wine known as passito Greek, which is made from Sultanas crushed.
His diners, who had confused the word “Xantos” with ‘Santos’, believed that he had discovered in wine quality worthy of being defined as “holy”. In any case, from that moment the Pretto Vin was called Vin Santo. A variant of the story tells that he used the word Xanthos (in Greek ξάνθος means yellow) while talking about wine.
