Episode 7 – What is an Ice Wine?
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Basically an Ice wine is one that has been made from frozen grapes. The grapes must be frozen on the vine though, not after they are picked. This means that workers must go out in temperatures of at least –10 C to –13 C to pick the grapes – certainly a cold occupation. It is actually the water in the grape juice that freezes and remains in tiny crystals in the skin. So a small amount of highly concentrated grape juice is extracted and used to make the wine.
The first Ice wine was made by accident in Germany. The grapes froze on the vine, but it was decided to go ahead and use them anyway. The saying that necessity is the mother of invention was certainly true here. Ice wine was made intentionally from the 1800s on, but it was Hainle, a Canadian vineyard who made the first commercially available Icewine – that was in 1978. Since then, demand has increased and now many countries that can depend on a winter of minus eight or ten make Icewine.
As previously mentioned, for true Icewine the grapes must be left on the vine till they freeze. This means that there is a possibility that some will be lost due to rot, falling off, or animals eating them. Picking them is labor intensive, but so is the fermentation process because the conditions must remain very cold to keep the grapes frozen. Freezing increases the sugar content of the grape, so fermentation takes some months longer than with ordinary grapes. All this is what makes the price of the finished product so high. Icewine is often sold not in big bottles, but in half-bottle amounts. And frequently it is gift-packed in bottles as small as 200ml and even 50ml.
The grape varietal used for Icewine depends on the country it is made in. Germany prefers Riesling, while Ontario, Canada and British Columbia use the Vidal varietal as well Cabernet Franc, a red grape. Other species are being trialled, with Pillitteri Estates Winery in Ontario claiming to be the first to make Shiraz Icewine.
Icewines can be either red or white, with the white Icewine color changing to deep amber as it ages. The red varieties are not as dark as ordinary red wine, often looking more like the color of a rose wine than anything.
Although the sugar content is high, Icewine is not cloying in taste or texture due to its high acidity. If they are from Germany, their alcohol content may be as low as 6%, but Canadian Icewine is higher at up to 13%.
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