Ice Wine

Ice wine and botrytized wine are also liqueur wines, with honey-like sweetness. What is the uniqueness of ice wine in the brewing method, and is it sought after by wine lovers?

Making Method

Ice wine is different from noble rot wine, the grapes are not infected by mold. The grapes used to make ice wine must be harvested several months later than ordinary grapes. In severe cold weather, the temperature can reach minus 7 degrees or below. Grapes hanging on the vine freeze quickly and the pulp freezes. The ice concentrates the sugar in the grapes. Yeast cannot convert all the sugar into alcohol during brewing, so the wine contains a lot of residual sugar and is full of sweetness. The alcohol content is also low, about 7 degrees. Brewers will also carefully select yeast and avoid malolactic fermentation in order to make the ice wine have a richer fruit aroma.

According to statistics, each hectare of German vineyards can only produce 100-200 liters of ice wine on average. Compared with ordinary white wine, it can produce an average of 4,000 liters, which is quite small. In addition, cold weather is required to produce ice wine, so ice wine cannot be guaranteed to be produced every year, which is quite rare! In 2019, none of the 13 ice wine producing regions in Germany could reach minus 7 degrees or below, and the grapes could not be thawed. As a result, Germany did not produce any ice wine that year.

Ice Wine Regions

Germany

According to the German classification, ice wine becomes (Eiswein), the highest level in the entire rating. Locally, Riesling is mainly used to make ice wine. Riesling has high acidity, which can balance the high sweetness of ice wine. German ice wine often has a rich aroma of dried fruit (preserved apricot, mango) with a hint of honey. Some aged wines will have aromas such as nuts. It is worth noting that with global warming, the weather has become warmer, making it difficult for many German regions to produce ice wine.

Mosel

In the cold Germany, Mosel is relatively warm, so that the grapes can fully ripen before entering the cold winter, so the ice wine produced locally has more tropical fruits (mango, passion fruit), and also has the aroma of honey and raisins, and also has a crisp taste. Acidity and minerality. The famous winery Egon Müller is from the Mosel region.

Rheingau

Rheingau is located in the Upper Rhine Valley, and most of the vineyards are located on the banks of the Rhine River. The river can reflect sunlight, and the south-facing slopes can also receive more sunlight. In addition, the area is often foggy, and the humid environment is conducive to the growth of noble rot. The humid and sunny climate makes Rheingau a production area with less ice wine and more noble rot wine, but it has become the production area of top ice wine.

German Famous Ice Wine Winery

Egon Müller

Dr. Loosen

Schloss Saarstein

Schloss Vollrads

Michel Schneider

Canada

The cold weather in Canada provides an ideal environment for making ice wine. It is one of the few producing areas in the world that can produce ice wine in large quantities. In addition to the above-mentioned Riesling, it will also be brewed with Vidal, Gewurztraminer, and more rarely, the red grape Cabernet Franc. Canada's legal production area is Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA). Only Ontario (Ontario) and British Columbia (British Columbia) are listed as VQA. VQA has quite strict regulations, requiring 100% locally grown grapes, and must Harvesting and pressing in an environment of minus 8 degrees can become Icewine VQA.

Ontario

Among them, the most famous sub-region is the Niagara Peninsula (Niagara Peninsula), which is the largest wine-producing region in Canada. The local area is near Lake Ontario. The surface of the lake helps to prolong the growing season of the grapes, allowing the grapes to fully ripen while reducing the risk of fungal infection of the grapes.

British Columbia

The more famous local sub-region is Okanagan Valley (Okanagan Valley), which is also one of the top producing regions in Canada. The production area is close to two mountain ranges, affected by the rain shadow effect, with less rainfall and longer hours of sunshine. The local weather is cold, with temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees, which is definitely an ideal environment for ice wine production.

Canada Famous Ice Wine Winery

Inniskillin

Pillitteri Estates Winery

Summer Hill Pyramid Winery

Hillebrand Winery

Food Pairing

Ice wine belongs to sweet wine, rich in sweetness and full of ripe fruit aroma. At the same time with a certain acidity. Therefore, ice wine can be used as an after-dinner drink, and it is suitable to be enjoyed with desserts with similar or higher sweetness (eg cream cake, fruit). It is also a common food pairing with cheese. In addition, it can neutralize the spiciness when paired with spicy dishes (such as Sichuan spicy hot pot and Thai curry), which has become a popular food and beverage pairing in recent years.

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