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Ice
Wine - A Magical Thing
Archived March 2005
Story by: Lisa
Anderson
Photos by Julianna Hayes, BCWine.com
Cold weather inspires both fear and hope in the hearts
of wine growers throughout the Pacific Northwest. While
freezing temperatures in the early
fall can bring about devastating losses in vineyards, in the
late fall and winter they allow for the production of one of
nature’s most unusual and delectable gifts—ice wine.
Creation of ice wine is a magical thing in itself.
Harvest cannot take place unless perfect conditions are
in order. First, fruit must be ripened completely on the vine.
Second, a frost must be present (ideally for several
days in a row), with the temperature ranging somewhere between
–13 and –8 degrees Celsius (or about 8.6 and 17.6 degrees
Fahrenheit). Winemakers
watch and wait until these two defining moments line up, and
then… let the harvest begin.
And when it does, let it be fast and furious.
Frozen grapes are carefully, but quickly, hand-plucked
from the vines, and while still frozen, gently pressed to
extract their juice.
Unlike any other grape harvest, the much-anticipated
ice wine harvest usually takes place in the dark of the night,
when at last temperatures fall to
 targeted
levels and mature grapes freeze on vines. Rock-hard frozen
grapes are carefully plucked from the vines and placed in
shallow crates, as daylight greets the cold, but hardy
pickers.
Co-existing with
frozen water crystals inside grape skins, are the ripe sugars,
acids and concentrated flavors characteristic of ice wines.
And here’s where the magic begins.
Water stays frozen longer than other vital components
within well-ripened grapes. As ice wine
grapes are harvested and begin to warm, frozen water begins to crystallize, while the
remaining components hang suspended as highly
concentrated liquid drops among the water crystals, with sugar
and flavor levels two to three times higher than those of
grapes harvested earlier in the season.
Pressing must be prompt but gentle to capture the
prized juice.
Only
a few drops of concentrated juice emerge from each individual
grape. In fact, it can require up to an entire vine to produce a
single bottle of wine. But
it is precisely these low yields that create the winemaker’s
desired effect—juice that is full of intense, sweet,
true-to-varietal flavors with just the right balance of
acidity. This
concentrated juice is fermented very slowly—up to several
months—until it stops fermenting naturally.
The resulting ice wine, bottled in a 375 ml bottle,
makes for a delicious treat on its own or as an accompaniment
to almost any dessert.
German Roots
The
ice wine story is a relatively new one, compared with the long
histories of other wines of the world.
Germany originated the unique drink, called “Eiswein.”
The first Eiswein harvests took place in Franconia in
1794 when peasants tried to produce wine from partially frozen
grapes that resulted from an unexpected frost.
Their idea took root; records show that harvests were
carried out in the Rhineland in 1813 during the Napoleonic
Wars. While
Germany today continues to be a prominent producer of the
special dessert wine, other regions of the world have emerged
as quality ice wine producers—and nowhere more so than North
America.
The
Pacific Northwest Ice Wine Story
The
northern reaches of the Pacific Northwest are
particularly well-suited to and well known for ice wine making.
Cold winters are the norm in this part of the world;
temperatures often reach the range necessary for harvesting
frozen grapes. British
Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, Washington State, Oregon and
Idaho all boast wineries that take pride in producing vintages
of this special wine – when nature permits.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, several different
varietals are used to make ice wine, including Riesling, Gewürztraminer,
Ehrenfelser, Chenin Blanc, Vidal, Pinot Gris, Gamay, Merlot,
Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Semillon and even Pinot Noir.
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