ice wine

Grapes for ice wine, still frozen on the vine.

Icewine (or ice wine or, in German, Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, so the result is a concentrated, often very sweet wine. In the case of ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards. Unlike the grapes from which other dessert wines, such as Sauternes, Tokaji, or Trockenbeerenauslese, are made, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea or noble rot. Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity for ice wine harvest, which may be in the next calendar year. This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high acidity. When the grapes are free of Botrytis, they are said to come in "clean".

Icewine producers

Vineyard in Ontario.

The most famous (and expensive) ice wines are German Eiswein and Canadian ice wine, but apart from these, ice wine is also made in the United States, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Australia, France, New Zealand and Israel in smaller quantity. Eiswein is part of the QmP category in the German wine classification, and Icewine in Canada must follow VQA protocol to be labelled as such.

In contrast to most other wine-producing regions, Canada, particularly the Niagara Peninsula, has very consistent freezes in winter and has become the largest ice wine producer in the world. Ice wine production in Canada is regulated by the Vintners Quality Alliance in the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. If sugar in the grapes measures less than 35 brix, then they cannot be made into icewine. These are often downgraded to a lower designation, such as Special Select Late Harvest or Select Late Harvest. Although Niagara-on-the-Lake's Inniskillin is traditionally considered the largest producer in term of volume, many smaller New World wineries in the Niagara Region have made their presence known with high quality products that have won awards around the world. Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery's 2004 Riesling Icewine was recently acknowledged by Jancis Robinson of the Financial Times (London) and the Oxford Companion to Wine as one of Canada's 10 best wines.^{[citation needed]} To add to the prestige factor, in November 2006, the most expensive bottle of ice wine to date, was sold at CAD 30,000 by Royal DeMaria, a small winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake that specializes in making icewine.

Production

Natural ice wines require a hard freeze (by law in Canada a minimum of −8 °C (17 °F) and in Germany a minimum of −7 °C (19 °F)) to occur sometime after the grapes are ripe, which means that the grapes may hang on the vine for several months following the normal harvest. If a freeze does not come quickly enough, the grapes may rot and the crop will be lost. If the freeze is too severe, no juice can be extracted. Vineland Winery in Ontario once broke their pneumatic press in the 1990s while pressing the frozen grapes because they were too hard (the temperature was close to −20 °C).^{[citation needed]} The longer the harvest is delayed, the more fruit will be lost to wild animals and dropped fruit. Since the fruit must be pressed while it is still frozen, pickers often must work at night or very early in the morning, harvesting the grapes within a few hours, while cellar workers must work in unheated spaces.

In Austria, Germany and Canada, the grapes must freeze naturally to be called ice wine. Some winemakers use cryoextraction (that is, mechanical freezing) to simulate the effect of a frost and typically do not leave the grapes to hang for extended periods as is done with a natural ice wine. These non-traditional ice wines are sometimes referred to as "icebox wines".^{[citation needed]} An example is Bonny Doon's Vin de Glacière.

The high sugar level in the must leads to a slower than normal fermentation. It may take months to complete the fermentation (compared to days or weeks for regular wines) and special strains of yeasts should be used. Because of the lower yield of grape musts and the difficulty of processing, ice wines are significantly more expensive than table wines. They are often sold in half-bottle volume (375 ml) or the even smaller 200ml bottle. New World wineries in particular sometimes bottle 200 ml and 50 ml gift packages.

Varietal grapes

Red ice wines

Typical grapes used for ice wine production are Riesling, considered to be the most noble variety by Germans; Vidal, highly popular in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada; and, interestingly, the red grape Cabernet Franc. Many vintners, especially from the New World, are experimenting with making ice wine from other varieties: whites such as Seyval Blanc, Chardonnay, Kerner, Gewürztraminer, chenin blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Ehrenfelser; or reds such as Merlot, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon. Pillitteri Estates Winery from the Niagara-on-the-Lake region of Ontario recently claimed to be the first winery in the world producing Shiraz (Syrah) ice wine.

Ice wines from white varieties tend to be pale yellow or light gold in color when they are young and can maderise (acquiring a deep amber-golden color) as they age. The red varieties tend to have a light burgundy or even pink color like that of rosé wines.

Some vintners in Canada have taken a step forward in experimenting with sparkling ice wine. Sparkling ice wines have texture similar to other sparkling wines, such as champagne or asti, but with fuller body, and a significantly higher sugar level balanced with high acidity.

Characteristics

Even though it is normal for residual sugar content in ice wine to run from 180 g/L up to as high as 320 g/L (with a mean in the 220 g/L range), ice wine is very refreshing (as opposed to cloying) due to high acidity. (The titratable acidity in ice wine is almost always above 10 g/L.) Ice wine usually has a medium to full body, with a long lingering finish. The nose is usually reminiscent of peach, pear, dried apricot, honey, citrus, figs, caramel, green apple, etc., depending on the varietal. The aroma of tropical and exotic fruits such as pineapple, mango, or lychee is quite common, especially on white varietals.

Ice wine usually has a slightly lower alcohol content than regular table wine. Some Riesling ice wines from Germany have an alcohol content as low as 6%. Ice wines produced in Canada usually have higher alcohol content, between eight and 13 percent. In most years, ice wines from Canada generally have higher brix degree (must weight) compared to those from Germany. This is largely due to the more consistent winters in Canada. Must with insufficient brix level cannot be made into ice wine, and is thus often sold as "special select late harvest" or "select late harvest" at a fraction of the price that true ice wine commands.

Connoisseurs argue^{[citation needed]} about whether ice wine improves with age or is meant to be drunk young. Those who support aging claim that ice wine's very high sugar level (which is often much higher than that of Sauternes) and high acidity preserve the content for many years after bottling. Those who disagree contend that as ice wine ages it loses its distinctive acidity, fruitiness, aroma, and freshness.

See also

• Canadian wine

External links

• Niagara Icewine Festival Jan 19-28,2007
• Okanagan Winter/Icewine Festival Jan 17-20, 2008
• Niagara Winery Information and Ratings

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