BRANDS OF ICE WINE PORTABLE

Ontario icewine is closely regulated by the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA). In California, Chenin Blanc is an up and coming choice because of its natural sweetness and wide cultivation. The truth is that icewine can be made from just about any grape variety - even Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon entered icewine production in 2004. Cabernet Franc is also a Canadian favorite. Ontario favors Vidal Blanc and Riesling for its icewines, while Germany considers Riesling to be its most noble varietal. In 1991, Inniskillin’s 1989 Vidal Icewine won the Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo and clinched Ontario’s position as the world’s foremost producer of fine icewines. The Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario winery Inniskillin is one of the best known producers of icewine.

BRANDS OF ICE WINE PORTABLE

It was left to the invention of the pneumatic bladder press in 1961 and the development of portable generators and plastic films (to protect the vines from bird damage) that led to a surge in icewine production throughout a narrow belt of Ontario and British Columbia in the 1980s. In fact, icewine harvests were still a rarity throughout the 19th Century. When it was noticed that these grapes produced a very sweet must, they were pressed and the age of icewine began. A somewhat better case can be made for a particularly harsh winter in Dromersheim in 1830, which left many grapes on the vine, to be used as animal fodder. There is some evidence to suggest that the first post-Roman icewines were made in Franconia, Germany in 1794. The history of making wines from frozen grapes is not well established, but the first icewines may have been made back in Roman times. These wines are usually marketed under the name vin de glace. In winemaking regions that do not have the climatic conditions to produce icewine, grapes or juice may be frozen artificially to make a similar product. When released, such wine is often labelled as a “select late harvest” wine. If the conditions to make an icewine are not met, the grapes can still be crushed and made into wine. Noble rot is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea, and the flavor it imparts to the wine is a key part of some famous late harvest dessert wines, including Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslese. Icewine is sweet, like other dessert wines, but the grapes used to make it are generally not infected with the noble rot. Due to these factors, icewine is usually packaged in 375-mL bottles, sometimes called “splits,” and is much more expensive than ordinary wine. It takes more grapes to make a given volume of icewine than standard wines, and the extended hang time of the grapes leaves them susceptible to being eaten by birds. In practice, Canadian icewines tend to start at higher Brix levels and have a higher alcohol content than German Eisweins. The levels of alcohol most often fall in the 9 to 11% alcohol by volume (ABV) range. Of the acids present in icewine, malic is often present in percentages higher than usual (65–75%) for wines, because tartaric acid precipitates while the frozen grapes hang on the vine. The total acidity may be accentuated by a small amount of volatile acidity (VA), owing to the stressful fermentation conditions. Residual sugar levels, which usually fall between 150–250 g/L, are balanced with a crisp total acidity (TA), usually in the 9–12 g/L range. The flavor and aroma often show hints of peach, mango, apricot, honey, pear, melon or lychee. Icewines are full-bodied, being made with a starting density of 35–42 ☋rix, and have a lingering aftertaste. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape nectar to be pressed from the whole grape, or from the frozen must. Icewine (Eiswein in Germany) is a very sweet dessert wine produced from grapes that have been partially frozen on the vine. What are icewines, anyway? Don’t bother looking in the frozen food section of your grocery store.

But I do hope to impress the reader with the proposition that Icewines have a future outside of the frozen North, and can indeed be produced by the adventurous home winemaker. “Next, you’ll be telling us you can extract maple syrup from an oak tree!” Well, perhaps not. When some Canadian friends learned that I was about to write an article on making icewine in a warm-weather climate, they almost had a cow.

Brands of ice wine