Ice wine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grapes for ice wine, still frozen on the vine
Grapes for ice wine, still frozen on the vine

Ice wine (or icewine, as one word, 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, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine. With 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 arises for an ice wine harvest, which can occur the following 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".

Due to the labour-intense and risky production process resulting in relatively small amounts of wine, ice wines are generally quite expensive.

Contents

[edit] Icewine producers

Vineyard in Ontario, Canada
Vineyard in Ontario, Canada
A bottle of Swedish icewine
A bottle of Swedish icewine

The most famous (and expensive) ice wines are German Eiswein[1] and Canadian Icewine (where the name is written as one word), but ice wine is also made in Australia, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg New Zealand, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and United States, at least in smaller quantity. Eiswein is part of the Prädikatswein quality category in the German wine classification, and Icewine in Canada must follow VQA protocol to be labelled as such. The French language term Vin de glace is part of the wine classification in Luxembourg, but not in France, but is sometimes found on the rare bottles of ice wine produced in Alsace.

In contrast to most other wine-producing regions, Canada, particularly the Niagara Peninsula, consistently undergoes freezing in winter and has become the world's largest ice wine producer. Icewine 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. Niagara-on-the-Lake's Inniskillin is traditionally considered the leading Icewine producer. It was the first Canadian winery to win a major international award with the prestigious Grand Prix d’Honneur at 1991 Vinexpo in France with their 1989 Icewine. This award put Canadian Icewines on the world stage. 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 The Oxford Companion to Wine as one of Canada's 10 best wines. To add to the prestige factor, in November 2006, what has been claimed to be the most expensive bottle of ice wine to date was sold for 30,000 Canadian dollars[2] by Royal DeMaria, a small winery in Beamsville that specializes in making icewine.

[edit] Production

Natural ice wines require a hard freeze (by law in Canada a minimum of −8 °C (17 °F)[3] 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. In other countries, 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 natural ice wines. 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.

[edit] Requirements

The minimum must weight requirements for ice wine is as follows, in the measures used in the respective country:

[edit] Trade in ice wine

Of the Canadian production of Icewine, shipments to the US accounted for 8 million worth of wine in 2005.

[edit] Grape varieties

Red ice wines
Red ice wines

Typical grapes used for ice wine production are Riesling, considered to be the most noble variety by German winemakers; 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.[citation needed]

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Deutsches Weininstitut (German Wine Institute): Quality categories, accessed on April 6, 2008
  2. ^ OnAHigh.org September 15, 2006: Royal DeMaria: World's Most Expensive Ice Wine
  3. ^ a b Ontariograpes.com: Icewine, accessed on April 6, 2008
  4. ^ Deutsches Weininstitut (German Wine Institute): Must weights, accessed on April 6, 2008
  5. ^ Wines from Austria: Quality Designations in Detail, accessed on April 6, 2008
  6. ^ Wein-Plus Weinglossar: Mostgewicht, accessed on April 6, 2008
  7. ^ Institut Viti-Vinicole Grand Duché de Luxembourg: Spezialweine, accessed on April 6, 2008

[edit] See also