Ice Wines, Nature's Winter Nectar
When it's icy outside, why not snuggle up inside with some "ice" that will melt your heart. In this case, the "ice" is Ice Wine, an ultra sweet and silky dessert wine that is a wonderful sipper at the end of a meal or enjoyed while relaxing in front of a fire on a cold winter's night.
While winemaking can be traced back thousands of years, Ice Wines are fairly new on the wine scene. The first recorded Ice Wine was produced by a German winemaker about 200 years ago. The story goes that this winemaker was surprised by an early frost, ruining the grapes for conventional winemaking. He decided to press these frozen grapes and was pleasantly surprised to learn that this yielded a sweet and pure wine. Ice Wines were born! As Ice Wines rely on frozen grapes, they are produced in the colder Northern hemisphere wineries.
Classic Ice Wine is produced from grapes that are allowed to freeze on the vine, and when the temperature reaches approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit, are then hand harvested. Ideally, the grapes' sugar levels have reached 45%. The frozen grape juice crystals are then extracted through a gentle pressing process, to yield nectar with an intense concentration of sugars, aromas and acidity. This is a labor intensive process and typically produces small batches of dessert wine. This makes true Ice Wines challenging to make and expensive to buy.
Ice Wine isCanada's wine claim to fame, and they are very protective of these wines. The Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) was formed to govern the production and quality of all Canadian Ice Wine. The VQA insists that only frozen grapes that are hand harvested on the vine can be used to produce Canadian Ice Wine. The Provence of Ontario produces 75% of Canadian Ice Wines. Other countries skirt this challenging process by harvesting the grapes and then freezing them later, to produce frozen grapes. This obviously allows for larger harvests and lower labor costs, resulting in a lower production costs.
The Riesling grape is commonly used in Ice Wines and imparts good acidity and mineral notes. Another commonly used varietal is the Vidal grape, which imparts flavors of honey, apricot and tropical fruits. Quality Ice Wines also have good acidity levels, which make them ideal to be enjoyed as a sipper after a meal or paired with food. The general rule of thumb is to pair a dessert that is less sweet than the dessert wine. If you wish to end a meal with something less sweet, cheese can make a wonderful pairing. Ice Wine's natural acidity can be balanced by rich and slightly salty cheeses. Some good examples include Aged Gouda, Gruyère, Asiago and Blue Cheese.
A couple of notable Canadian Ice Wines include Jackson-Triggs Vidal Ice Wine (about $20 for a 187 ml bottle) and Inniskillin's Riesling Ice Wine (about $70 for a 375 ml bottle) and Inniskillin's Vidal Ice Wine (about $45 for a 375 ml bottle). Quality non-Canadian Ice Wines includeAustria's Nigl Grüner Veltliner Eiswein (about $35 for a 375 ml bottle) andGermany's Nachtgold Eiswein (about $25 for a 500 ml bottle).
Some of the best things in life are pleasant surprises. Try a glass of Ice Wine and make a toast to the German winemaker, for his discovery of Mother Nature's winter nectar. Prost!
While winemaking can be traced back thousands of years, Ice Wines are fairly new on the wine scene. The first recorded Ice Wine was produced by a German winemaker about 200 years ago. The story goes that this winemaker was surprised by an early frost, ruining the grapes for conventional winemaking. He decided to press these frozen grapes and was pleasantly surprised to learn that this yielded a sweet and pure wine. Ice Wines were born! As Ice Wines rely on frozen grapes, they are produced in the colder Northern hemisphere wineries.
Classic Ice Wine is produced from grapes that are allowed to freeze on the vine, and when the temperature reaches approximately 10 degrees Fahrenheit, are then hand harvested. Ideally, the grapes' sugar levels have reached 45%. The frozen grape juice crystals are then extracted through a gentle pressing process, to yield nectar with an intense concentration of sugars, aromas and acidity. This is a labor intensive process and typically produces small batches of dessert wine. This makes true Ice Wines challenging to make and expensive to buy.
Ice Wine isCanada's wine claim to fame, and they are very protective of these wines. The Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) was formed to govern the production and quality of all Canadian Ice Wine. The VQA insists that only frozen grapes that are hand harvested on the vine can be used to produce Canadian Ice Wine. The Provence of Ontario produces 75% of Canadian Ice Wines. Other countries skirt this challenging process by harvesting the grapes and then freezing them later, to produce frozen grapes. This obviously allows for larger harvests and lower labor costs, resulting in a lower production costs.
The Riesling grape is commonly used in Ice Wines and imparts good acidity and mineral notes. Another commonly used varietal is the Vidal grape, which imparts flavors of honey, apricot and tropical fruits. Quality Ice Wines also have good acidity levels, which make them ideal to be enjoyed as a sipper after a meal or paired with food. The general rule of thumb is to pair a dessert that is less sweet than the dessert wine. If you wish to end a meal with something less sweet, cheese can make a wonderful pairing. Ice Wine's natural acidity can be balanced by rich and slightly salty cheeses. Some good examples include Aged Gouda, Gruyère, Asiago and Blue Cheese.
A couple of notable Canadian Ice Wines include Jackson-Triggs Vidal Ice Wine (about $20 for a 187 ml bottle) and Inniskillin's Riesling Ice Wine (about $70 for a 375 ml bottle) and Inniskillin's Vidal Ice Wine (about $45 for a 375 ml bottle). Quality non-Canadian Ice Wines includeAustria's Nigl Grüner Veltliner Eiswein (about $35 for a 375 ml bottle) andGermany's Nachtgold Eiswein (about $25 for a 500 ml bottle).
Some of the best things in life are pleasant surprises. Try a glass of Ice Wine and make a toast to the German winemaker, for his discovery of Mother Nature's winter nectar. Prost!
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