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Ice Wine |
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Ice wine, late harvest wines, dessert wines
The Pacific Northwest produces some of the most highly rated sweet wines in the world. Ice wines from British Columbia's Inniskillin and Jackson Triggs wineries win top ratings internationally, the highest rating ever for Chateau Ste Michelle was 97 points from Wine Spectator for a very limited ice wine, and at lower price points, Oregon and Washington wineries make world class "Ice wine styled" wines, ports, fruit based dessert wines, and late harvest wines. "Dessert wines, often rare and expensive, are unique wines and the most difficult to make; but when successful, they earn some of the highest ratings given by our editors. Enlisted to do a specific job in a specific situation, these luscious nectars are the special teams of the wine world. They accompany the dessert course, or even take its place and star on their own. Yet despite delivering high quality more often than not, dessert wines are generally misunderstood, underestimated or simply ignored." - Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator Ice Wines Ice Wines are a specialty of winemaking regions that rapidly become cold after harvest. Ice wines are fabulous ultra-sweet dessert wines. The most famous regions for ice wine are Germany, Austria and Canada. British Columbia makes some of the world's best. Until recently, British Columbia's Ice Wines were not available in the US. Now, we are thrilled to offer the BC Ice Wines of Inniskillin and Jackson Triggs, and continue to offer the ice wines of Chateau Ste Michelle, Covey Run, Kiona, and Andrew Rich, all NW producers. Washington State produces a few Ice Wines, not usually as highly rated (or nearly as expensive as BC Ice Wines) but quite worthy, highly rated "stickies". Oregon has Andrew Rich, whose Gewurztraminer Ice Wine is a perennial highly rated, highly prized Ice Wine at a bargain price. What is an "Ice Wine" To make a "true" Ice Wine, grapes are left on the vine long after harvest and are picked by hand once temperatures reach a certain level, usually about 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 Celsius). Typically wine workers will trudge through snow in the middle of the night to pick the grapes. These marble-hard grapes then are crushed. Since they're frozen, just a few drops of sweet juice is released and fermented. Because it's so hard to make and so little is made from the harvested fruit, ice wine tends to be very expensive and is offered in half-bottles. The best ice wines are those that retain natural acidity in the face of late harvests and high sugars. This is why Riesling is one of the finest varieties for ice wine. A few wineries also are experimenting with red ice wines, using Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. A small amount of ice wine is made in Washington and Idaho. Some wineries make "ice wine" by picking late-harvest grapes, then freezing them. The resulting wines are not as good as the real thing, although they are generally much less expensive. Changes in laws in 2003 forced wineries that make such wines to label them as something other than ice wine. So when you see "ice wine" on the label, you know you're getting a true ice wine.
at right, Frozen Grapes about to be Crushed for Ice Wine Genuine ice wine must follow VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) regulations that prohibit any artificial freezing of grapes. The grapes are painstakingly picked by hand in their natural frozen state, ideally at temperatures of -10 to -13 degrees C -- sometimes the picking must be done at night to take advantage of the temperature. Yields are very low, often as little as 5-10 percent of normal. at right, Grapes on the Vine, Ready to Pick
The finished ice wine is intensely sweet and flavorful in the initial mouth sensation. The balance is achieved by the acidity, which gives a clean, dry finish. The nose of ice wine recalls lychee nuts. The wine tastes of tropical fruits, with shadings of peach nectar and mango. Ice wine is winter's gift to the wine lover: one of the best-kept secrets of the wine world that garners gold medals in virtually every competition in which it is entered. The greatest of international accolade for Canadian Ice wine was bestowed on Inniskillin 1989 Icewine at Vinexpo, Bordeaux, in June 1991. This wine, judged by an international panel, was accorded the fair's highest award, Le Grand Prix d'Honneur. The Wines
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Ice wines are made by a surprising number
of Oregon and Washington wineries. TRUE Ice Wines, those mind boggling
elixirs of ambrosia, are almost entirely produced in North America
Ice wine grapes are left on the vine well into the winter
months. The resulting freezing and thawing of the grapes dehydrates
the fruit, and concentrates the sugars, acids, and extracts in the
berries, thereby intensifying the flavours and adding complexity to
the wine made from it.
The frozen grapes are pressed in the extreme
cold. The water in the juice remains frozen as ice crystals, and only
a few drops of sweet concentrated juice is obtained. This juice is
then fermented very slowly for several months, stopping naturally.