Adventures in Wine: Niagara! 🍇🍷🍇



•Eco-wine tour w/ Owen’s Hiking & Adventures @ Vineland Estates

•Ice Wine Cocktail Party

•Lazy Saturday Tasting @ iCellars Estate Winery

They say you can’t go home again. I’m happy to report that’s not always true. I went home to Niagara this past weekend. And it was wonderful!

Click the video below for more fun!

🗓️Friday – At Vineland Estates, my friend Deb and I got out on the vineyard (and part of the Bruce Trail) with Owen Bjorgan of Owen’s Hiking and Adventures. We learned about the Niagara bench ecosystems, how they affect the vineyards and the resulting wine. It was awesome to taste the wines in the spot they were grown.

Winding our way from the Riesling vineyard through a small nearby forest, Owen explained how the forest, in close proximity, provides numerous ecosystem benefits to vineyards, such as increased whole-farm yield, increased soil water-holding capacity, reduced erosion, cleaner watersheds. With this being a natural agroforest ( it was there first), set a little away from the vines, there is little to no competition for nutrients, resources and light. All the benefits and no fighting.

It was incredible to leisurely hike, enjoy the cool of the forest, and end our tour back in the sunny warmth of the vineyard. It’s very healing spending time in nature… the wine didn’t hurt, either!🍷

Next up: the Rotary Club of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Ice Wine Cocktail Party – benefitting Rotary International Projects and Red Roof Retreat – who provide respite care for Niagara’s Special Needs families.

Hailed as the ‘event of the summer’ and held at Hiscott House, a private residence in Niagara-on-the-Lake, my friend Steffanie and I enjoyed, of course, fabulous Ice Wine cocktails. 🍸 Add to that a diverse menu of savory and sweet treats, ending the evening with a chocolate Ice Wine shot. It was the place to see and be seen, and was a great evening for great causes. ✨

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🗓️Saturday – with Friday being so busy, it was great to slow down, chill and have a lazy Saturday. Deb, Shiona and I met for a leisurely wine tasting at iCellars Estate Winery. This is a favorite spot, especially during harvest. We meditated on our flights of Chardonnay, Rose, the Arinna Red Blend, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This year’s pick – the Cab Sauv!

We spent some time after our flights enjoying a glass outside on the patio, gazing out as the golden sun warmed the vineyard.

And as we drove away, I saw a motorcycle with two dogs in goggles in the sidecar. And I know what you’re thinking… what do they put in their wine? I asked Deb if she saw it too. She did.

Luckily, I got a picture.

If you’re in the Niagara region, make a point of experiencing these great wineries. There are so many to choose from, and each with their own unique style.

Cheers!🍷

©️Copyright. 2023. The Wine Student.

Heidi & Pam’s Excellent Ice Wine Adventure! 🧊🥂

In the past, I’ve written about Ice Wine; how it’s harvested, how it’s made, and how it’s enjoyed. Like all remarkable feats of winemaking, it is a delicate balance of weather, timing, and the tenacity of everyone involved to help create it.

I’d been feeling pretty blue that I couldn’t be at The Niagara Ice Wine Festival. For me, the festival was always a place to connect with friends and sample some great wines. But the weather here in the Cleve has been unpredictable, gray and drab. Squalls of snow kept blowing in whenever I could possibly travel. Bah.

But… I had my own bottle of ice wine that I’d been wanting to share. And then I remembered my neighbor, Pam, also had a bottle of ice wine that she wanted to share. Things were looking up. Hey, if I can’t be at the festival, I’ll have a little one of my own. Let the pop-up Ice Wine Fest begin!

I quickly put together some treats to sample with our two wines; then made my way through the frozen Ohio tundra. Ice and snow doggedly lashed at my face. Inch by inch I walked, trudging through glacial molasses, uphill – both ways!

Ok, I only had to walk next door. But it was very yucky and slick outside.

Here’s what we enjoyed:

Pam had a Breitenbach Vidal Blanc that she’d found on a recent visit to Amish Country in Dover, Ohio. I brought a 2015 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Reserve from Niagara, Ontario.

Now, if we were true die-hards we would’ve enjoyed them outside. But it was way too frosty, so we enjoyed them inside Pam’s kitchen.

Starting with:

Breitenbach Vidal Blanc – had a clear, golden blonde color, and with a light syrup mouthfeel. It tasted young but with a blossoming structure. The flavor was most like a pluot. Yes, a pluot. A pluot is a stone fruit hybrid of plum and apricot. It looks like a plum, and it tastes like a plum, yet it has that delicate floral sweetness of ripe apricot. We paired first with a bit of brie – which decreased its sweetness. Salty pistachios neutralized the flavor almost entirely. Shifting back to sweet, milk chocolate ramped up the sweetness, and strawberries fully coaxed out both the sweet, and the fruitiness.

Price point: $43.95

2015 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Reserve– was light amber in color, and was sweet, less fruity, but possessed a robust, full-bodied mouthfeel. It had a honey-like viscosity, but then took a slow curve to a bourbon vibe. Pairing it with a salted chocolate Heath bar, decreased its presence a little. But when we paired it with brie, it became a melt-in-your-mouth butterscotch sensation. Since it was an older vintage, the flavors were more melded and mature, and influenced by some gentle oxidation. But this it gave a delightfully lush taste.

Price Point: the 2015 listed at $72.99 on wine.com but newer vintages: $39.99 at LCBO.

It was a tale of two very different vintages, and I guess it was a little like comparing apples to oranges. Yet the idea wasn’t to evaluate as much as enjoy the wine, noting little elements unique to each.

I think the nicest part was being able to spend some time with a good friend. All too often, as winter settles in, we sometimes see less of our friends and neighbors. This was a sweet, impromptu opportunity to reconnect and catch up.

The Niagara Ice Wine Festival concludes this Sunday, January 29th. The Ohio Ice Wine Festival runs from March 1st-31st, in and around Geneva, OH. Since it’s a little closer to home, I’m hoping to check it out!

The little wine bottle puffer in the cover photo is Iceware by Wild Eye Designs. I purchased mine from Amazon.

Cheers!

©️Copyright. The Wine Student. 2023

Sweets to the Sweet!🎄🍭

It’s holiday time! 🎅 Time for some fun, and time for tasting!🍷🎄

Click the video below for a little wine round up!

👇😄

Typically, the rule is sweet wines with sweet treats, but we might take a few little twists and turns in candy land! 🍭🍬

Candy Cane Ice Cream –

Peppermint has always seemed like a tough pairing with wine. And I guess because brushing your teeth before a wine tasting always makes for a wonky flavor. Maybe it’s a toothpaste thing (heavier concentration of mint, surfactants in toothpaste that maybe coat the tongue) rather than a mint thing?🤷🏼‍♀️

But since peppermint is an aromatic herb, why not try it with an aromatic white wine or rosé?

•Gewürztraminer – intense floral aromas, grapefruit and lychee. Higher sweetness pairs with sweetness and mint. And just saying Gewürztraminer makes you sound kind of drunk. Don’t believe me? Try it!

•Sauternes – dessert wine from Bordeaux with Botrytis cinerea (which makes it delightfully sweet). Flavors of honey, quince and apricot make it sweet and oh so smooth. 🍯

•Sparkling Rosé – nothing better than bubbles to cut into some of the creaminess of the ice cream. The gentle acidity of the delicate fruity notes play hide and seek with the minty sweetness of the ice cream. 🍨🍾

Gingerbread Sticky Toffee Pudding

Combining gingerbread with dates, cloves, allspice and toffee is basically a carnival on your palate!🎪

•Chenin Blanc – sweet golden nectar of pear, yellow apple, chamomile and honey, little more acidic to help carve through the richness of the toffee and cake consistency.

•Riesling – aromatic variety ranging from bone-dry to quite sweet. If you like dry, look for “Trocken” on the label. Anything sweeter: look for “Pradikat” – Kabinett (sweet) , Spatlese (sweeter), Auslese (sweeter still), all the way to Eiswein (sweetie sweet). Flavors range from dried apricot, citrus, green apple, green papaya, jasmine, depending on the growing region. High acidity again cuts into the rich cake.

•Port – Beautiful notes of black plum, chocolate, dries cherry and cinnamon complement this ooey gooey dessert as you nestle deeper into a spicy bliss with each sip.

Fruit Cake

I always feel a little bad for the nutty fruit cake. It’s so maligned. True, some can be as dense as a brick (and maybe even taste like one). But the combination of the buttery rum cake, rich nuts and dried fruit can be a lovely melt-in-your-mouth experience. Aromatic whites are a terrific pairing but so are some light-medium bodied reds.🍷

•Torrontés – From Argentina, this white wine can smell sweet but is dry and matches well with the spices, and melded aromatic flavors in fruit cake. Flavors of rose petal, geranium and peach round out this interesting wine.

•Cabernet Franc – Flavors of strawberry, raspberry and a hint of chili pepper make this a nice complement to the fruit cake’s nutty vibe.

•Merlot – Merlot is a softer red, and often blended with Cab Sauv soften its harsher nature. Yummy flavors of black cherry, plum and chocolate add to the fun, making that fruit cake the best you’ve ever had.

And if you find yourself overwhelmed, Ice Wine goes with everything!

So there ya go! Sometimes the best pairings are unexpected. Feel free to try your favorite holiday treats with different new, and fun wines.🍷🎄

♥️Thank you so much for stopping by, and supporting my blog. It’s fun to write, and I hope it’s fun to read.♥️

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season, and we’ll see you in the new year for more wine adventures!🥂

Be safe, everyone!🤗

Cheers!🍷

©️Copyright. The Wine Student, 2022.

Grapes in the Machine: Ice Wine Harvest

It was cold. It was crisp. And as we exhaled, our breath turned to ice crystals before floating to the ground. It was perfect weather to harvest some ice wine grapes!

And on this bitterly cold morning, I was visiting friends in Niagara during the Ice Wine Festival, and saw several harvesters heading out to a nearby vineyard. If you recall my previous posts on ice wine, you’ll remember that many rigorous standards have to be met to be considered a true Ice wine: It must picked at consistent sub-zero temps, immediately pressed outside in those sub-zero temps to keep the grape temperature (and sugar content) consistent. AND… the frozen grapes should, ideally, be hand-picked since the grapes are extremely delicate. Hand picking is preferred so as to not damage the berries. So how does the machine fit into the picture?

The simple answer is: Volume.

Geographically, the Niagara region produces some of the largest volume of ice wine in North America. Wineries, most notably, Pilliteri Estates Winery in Niagara-on -the-Lake, have to keep up with the ever increasing demand. Therefore, the increase in machine harvest is due to the vast expansion of the number of vineyards that now produce ice wine. Typically, a machine can pick one acre in less than an hour. And it is difficult, especially when it’s cold enough to freeze your nose hairs, to entice people to hand pick grapes at sub-zero temperatures, in the middle of a cold winter’s night.

Timing is everything, and there is a very narrow window of time available to pick, and process ice wine grapes. And while much of the quality control can be done in the vineyard with hand harvest, you run the risk of losing much of your yield because of the considerable amount of time it takes to harvest by hand. Machine is much more efficient to get the grapes from vineyard to press.

The technology itself has dramatically improved. According to Wine Enthusiast, the argument against machines was that the quality of the wine would suffer. In the past, machines would shake the vines so harshly that “material other than grapes (MOG)” would get into the mix.“ That material could include stems, leaves, or birds and small animals.“ To avoid this, innovative technology now allows de-stemming and sorting while on board the harvester, which then makes hand sorting and grading at the winery much easier. MOG is efficiently taken care of.

But what about all that shaking going on with the grapes? Don’t the grapes get damaged? Machine harvesters are now programmable, and can be selectively calibrated to provide a more gentle shake for grapes that need more TLC, and to pick specific grapes rather than “every single grape.”

There is a definite freshness advantage to machine harvest because the grapes are delivered more quickly to the sorting tables and presses. At the winery, ice wine grapes are still sorted and pressed outside, as in the time-honoured tradition.

With respect to this year’s harvest, Pilliteri Estates Winery’s Social Media Rep, [via direct message] stated, “We currently machine harvest all our Icewine now and this year’s yield looks good. We lost about 30% to 40% to birds because of the warm start to winter but the grapes that we pulled in look great and we are looking forward to another excellent Icewine vintage.”

Check out the video below to see the harvester in action! 👇🚜🍇 Hopefully, the sound will work. If not, the pics are pretty!

Is there any real difference in the quality of wine produced after machine harvest?

Most wine producers are finding that there is very little difference in the resulting product whether it’s harvested by human or machine. And when time is of the essence (especially with ice wine), efficiency is everything.

While newer technology has changed the traditions a bit, especially in response to drastic increases in demand, ice wine remains a true luxury item. And, ultimately, it’s in the winery that humans can never be replaced; creating, and fine-tuning the liquid gold vintages that swirl in your glass.🥂

Cheers! 🚜🍇🍷

©️Copyright, TheWineStudent, 2020

My Own Private Ice Wine Festival 🌬🍷😄

 

If I can’t make it to the Niagara Ice Wine Festival, I’ll make the Ice Wine Festival come to me!

And as luck would have it, I happened to have bottles from two great wine regions; Niagara and North East Ohio. While it won’t be on a grand scale, it’ll be sweet. Literally.

For the occasion, and completely ripping off their idea, I got creative and made my own marshmallows to toast. So there goes my new year’s resolution to limit sugar, at least for today.

Today’s featured wines are a 2010 Colaneri Profundo Aumento Chenin Blanc from Niagara and 2010 Ferrante Cab Franc from Geneva, Ohio. The  2010 vintage led me to wonder if maybe they were past their prime. Like many wines, ice wine can be cellared for many years, and because of the high residual sugars and acidity it would store well. But you won’t really know until it’s opened: if it smells like vinegar or sherry, it’s spoiled.
Being the brave student that I am, I’ll push on and try them. All in the pursuit of knowledge.

According to the Canadian Vintners Association, Canada is the world’s largest producer of ice wine. In 2015, Icewine made up 25% of the total export value ($18,623,057) and 0.3% of export volume ~ 234,604 litres). Ontario is Canada’s largest exporter valued at $15.6 million.
With similar weather patterns and temperatures to Ontario, Ohio is gaining steady ground with ice wine production. Its upcoming Ice Wine Festival in March will prove to be a great celebration of their hard work.

Ice wine is a sweet dessert wine produced from grapes that are left out on the vine to freeze. Hand harvested in sub-zero temperatures (usually before sunrise when temperatures remain consistent and its coldest~ brrrrrrrrr!) the grapes are pressed outside to maintain the consistent temperature and high sugar content of the grapes. You can read more detail about it here.
The homemade mallows were ready, and I thought I’d add to the pairing some Ghirardelli chocolate, fruit, and a little Brie as a savory contrast. And as an added treat, our friend, Shelly brought a bottle she’d bought back on our trip to Niagara a couple of years ago, a 2010 Pilliteri Estates Cab Franc Icewine. More yum! It tasted

like the most decadent honey, with a kick. Curiously, neither HubbyDoug nor Shelly shared my enthusiasm for sampling outside. Wah. So the kitchen served as a warmer venue.

It was great to sample ice wines from both sides of the border. Each one had its own unique vibe that made them very special.

I know I’ll get to the Niagara Ice Wine Festival again, and I’m looking forward to the Ohio Ice Wine Festival in March.  Both are a great celebration of not only the wine itself but of the winemakers who struggle against all odds to create and perfect this wonderful wine.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2017

My homemade marshmallows!

Ice Whine

Icy Loveliness: Ferrante Cab Franc Ice Wine

If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ll know that I love Ice Wine. And in Ohio, there is a burgeoning industry that I am very happy to enjoy and help promote. Last year, my friends and I ventured out to the far East of Cleveland to enjoy the Ice Wine Festival, if you click on the archives for March 2012, you’ll find pics. But I have a conundrum: to get to any of the events from where I live, you have to travel at least an hour, through a variety of possible weather conditions ranging from snow to snow | wind to snow and freezing snow | rain | slush | yuck mix. I think you see where I’m headed.

The way the North East Ohio (NEO) Ice Wine festival currently works, patrons travel from one winery to the next, sampling the latest offerings and pairing with specialty appetizers or desserts. It can be a lovely afternoon, if the weather gods are smiling. If they’re not, you can find yourself navigating some fairly tricky roads both on major freeways and the unplowed back roads to get to your destination.

I understand that having the Ice Wine festival at the individual estates is a great way to bring people out to the wineries during the off-season; and that’s good for business. I also understand that there are many who live on the East side and so the drive isn’t too difficult. But how about a little love for those of us on the West side or downtown?

An additional Ice Wine festival downtown, perhaps on E4th ~ where the area is closed to all but walking traffic, would bring visitors to the resident restaurants that also experience a bit of a slowdown in the winter months. It could be done as part of the annual East side festival ~ three weekends dedicated to Ice wine and the promotion of NEO wineries. The first weekend could be as it already is; with trips out to the participating wineries. The following weekend could have a more urban flavor, at E4th, and the third at Crocker Park,  providing greater access to downtown and West Side dwellers, respectively.

I know, it sounds a little like putting up a barn and having a floorshow. But I really like the NEO wine industry and the wines they are producing can be really terrific. In September, Crocker Park in Westlake sets up a premier wine event promoting the industry and recent vintages. Their attendance is usually quite high. Downtown wine events are also well-attended.

It’s just a thought but it might be a great way to bring in some other unique wineries from the surrounding regions as well as the East. And it might be a way to open up the NEO wine market to all of North East Ohio.

Cheers!

©TheWineStudent, 2013

Ice Wine in the Grand River Valley

Debonne Winery

Debonne’s Razzberry Riesling

Our Off-Dry to Sweet Wine Flight

Ice Sculpture

A question I ask after 5pm

Ferrante Winery

This is the reaction I got when I asked for a ‘generous’ shot.

The nasty weather held off here in Cleveland, and I was able to check out the WineGrower’s of the Grand River Valley 9th Annual Ice Wine Festival. It proved to be a good afternoon to sample some of their award winning offerings. My friends and I narrowed our trip to two participating wineries: Debonne and Ferrante. Click on any thumbnail to view the entire gallery.

At Debonne, we were treated to some ice carving demonstrations and a taste of their Vidal Blanc ice wine with home made cheese. The pairing was nice and brought out the ‘velvet-y’ qualities of both. My friend, Kell, was quick to point out this term, one he had picked up from our discussions about the wine aroma wheel. Learning can be fun! We moved inside to the tasting room and sampled an off-dry to sweet varietal wine selection. It ranged from a blend (Jazz White) to Razzberry Riesling. My pick from this grouping was the Jazz White; a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Riesling. It was a clear, light straw color, very minimal on the nose, but was lightly nuanced on the palate; refreshing with a subtle honey finish. I thought it could be a great sipping wine on a hot summer day and would be particularly good with a mild, white fish. The Riesling Reserve lot 907 was also light and sweet but didn’t have the same complexity as the Jazz White. The Razzberry Riesling, to me, tasted a lot like a Jell-o shot; very sweet and fun.

Ferrante treated us to their Vidal Blanc as well as a delicious Cabernet Franc. I have a soft spot for Cab Franc because it’s fruit forward with a rich, warm vibe (yes, even for an ice wine). And it has a buttery finish that can cuddle you up like a favorite blanket. Ferrante’s 2010 Cab Franc was no exception; it had a rich cherry top note and, true to form, ended with that beautiful butter kiss. You might say it was almost … velvet-y.

The Grand River Valley Ice Wine Festival continues March 10 and again March 17.

Cheers!

Chill out! ~ Ice Wine vs Iced Wine

Frost Bitten ~ an Iced Riesling

So you’re standing in the aisle of your favorite wine emporium and you’re looking at a few bottles of ice wine. You come across something called ‘Ice Riesling” and you wonder, “what’s the difference?”

If you read my last post, you know that Ice wine is picked and pressed outside in sub- zero conditions to ensure consistency in both cold temps and sugar content. It faithfully adheres to a traditional method of wine making.

Iced wine, by comparison, is made from harvested grapes that are mechanically frozen after they are picked. Essentially, a wine broker or negociant can, via phone call or e-mail, hook up with a vineyard already growing and harvesting grapes, have them mechanically freeze some of the harvest and produce a variation of ice wine that is then bottled and sold.With iced wines, there’s no getting up at 3am, and venturing into the vineyards in a snowmobile suit to hand pick grapes until sunrise.

‘Frost Bitten’ Ice Riesling  is one such iced wine made this way.  Is it false advertising? Not necessarily. Most broker-based wines are careful to label accordingly. However, the distinction on ‘Frost Bitten’  is in small print on the back of the bottle: “Wine made from post-harvest frozen Riesling grapes.” On the website it’s described as, “A classic German-styled Trocken-Beernauslese- like dessert wine.” But how many lay people really know what that means?

That said, a wine broker is doing a service to many grape farmers who, due to the economic downturn, might not be able to sell all of their grapes in a particular year. It also gives them a way to sell off some of their product at a lower price point, under another name, while keeping their higher priced, name product intact. It is a win-win proposition and not necessarily a bad practice, I just think it’s important for the consumer to be aware of exactly what they’re getting in their glass. And I think it’s important to give the true ice wine makers their due: they get up awfully early, out in the cold to produce something rare for you to enjoy. And while the price point might seem extravagant, you usually get what you pay for.

I remember, some time ago, controversy between producers of Canadian ice wine and California vintners who wanted to  call their sweet, post-harvest frozen grape offering ‘Ice wine’. The Canadians and Germans (who originally created eiswein) took them to court to identify and protect  what could be classified as true ice wine. They also wanted to ensure that consumers weren’t buying something they thought was pure ice wine but was actually a variation. From this came some strict guidelines that were set in place and outlined by Wines of Canada.

In the name of science, and to appease my curiosity, I bought a bottle of Frost Bitten Ice Riesling to try after my Sunday night dinner. What I found was a light, sweet wine, similar in consistency to a thin late harvest. It had a nice pineapple bouquet and an robust raisin essence but it didn’t have the full, velvet-y mouthfeel of ice wine.  Overall, it was a refreshing, little dessert wine. When I paired it with some Belgian dark chocolate, it became less sweet but was still quite pleasant on the palate. I liked it, but it just didn’t taste as decadent and rich as an ice wine, and maybe that’s the point.

For some, it’s a probably like tomato and tomahto. It makes very little difference, except when you look at the price point: $12 per bottle for the iced variation, compared to $29 for ice wine. And I guess it all depends on what you like and what you want to pay for a dessert wine.

But I still think it’s good to keep in mind that part of what you’re paying for in the higher priced, true ice wine is the considerable time, effort and care it takes to produce it.

Cheers!

The Ice Wine Cometh…

The Sweet Escape: Ice Wine

It’s sweet and rare, and if you knocked back a whole bottle by yourself, you might need a trip to your local ER to check your blood glucose levels. It’s ice wine and it’s mighty fine.  It’s taken me a little while to put these next couple of posts together. For one thing, there’s so much information about it, for another, I wanted to get it right.  Producers of true ice wine work very hard to accomplish what they do and in some chilly, low temps. Shrinkage is a given. So here we go, into the land of ice wine and snow …

Ice. Wine. Baby.

Ice wine is a rich, dessert wine made from the juice of partially frozen grapes. They must remain on the vine and harvested when temperatures dip to between -8 and -12 degrees Celsius over three consecutive days. The sugar content of the grapes at this time will be at its most concentrated. The water inside the juice is minimal resulting in extreme concentration of flavor, sweetness, aromatics and viscosity.

Canada (primarily the Niagara region) and Germany are the leading producers of ice wine (with an increasing number of good producers in Western New York and Ohio)  and yet it is still quite rare; yielding 5-10% of a normal harvest. The brisk temperatures that we complain about when we scrape off our cars are ideal for ice wine, but it’s a delicate balance. The colder the temperatures become, the more the grapes freeze and it can become more difficult to extract the juice. Most ice wine is harvested in late December to mid January when the lower temperatures stay constant. Before the harvest, ice wine grapes must be netted for protection from birds and animals. Picking is generally done by hand and much of the time at night, when the low temperatures stay most consistent.  The crush is also done outside to keep the must at a constant, cold temperature. If any thaw occurs, the water content inside the grapes will increase, potentially spoiling the sugar concentration. It’s these factors that make ice wine a premium wine product and legitimize the price of $30.00+/ 375ml. Think about it: you’ve got to give it up to those who go out in the middle of the night to pick and press grapes for you to enjoy.

The best grapes for Icewine are those with thicker, more durable skins that will hold together during the freeze ~ thaw cycle common in cold weather. Grapes with higher acid, extremely high sugar yield the best. As with any wine, differing varieties produce different characteristics: Riesling has a green apple and honey vibe; Cabernet Franc produces a rich, berry, buttery character and Vidal, a good, hearty hybrid used commonly because of it’s durability gives a traditional raisin-y essence. Troutman Vineyards in Wooster, Ohio make an ice wine using Chambourcin, a rare, red varietal.

Grapes are 80-90% frozen to give the required concentration of sugar, which is measured by degrees Brix, typically 35 degrees. Brix is measured using hydrometer or refractometer. Both provide vital information about the amount of sugar that been dissolved and that will help the winemaker determine how much yeast to add, since yeast converts sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The yeast used in ice wine must be one that can handle high sugar and not go too high in alcohol.  The yeast must be gradually acclimatized to increase the sugar environment. Fermentation can take 3-6 months and the percentage points in alcohol must progress slowly as this can increase spoilage if progressed too quickly.

After 3-6months, the ice wine needs to be filtered again, and very slowly or you get a fizzy wine. It’s a sticky process. Bottling is also slow so the wine doesn’t end up like fermented Hawaiian Punch.

Storage

Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Merlot are best when to drink when young. Gewurztraminer and Ehrenfelzer: 3-5 years maximum. Vidal and Riesling tend to be the most hearty and are best to cellar the longest at between 5-7 years. They make the best bet for long term cellaring because they are able to retain their acidity.

Like revenge and ice cream, ice wine is best served cold:

Ice wine should be served chilled but not frozen; extreme variations in temperature can compromise the quality of wine, so just chill in the fridge. The ideal temperature is around 12 degrees. As with most chilled wine, allow it to stand at  room temp for about 15 minutes to open up the bouquet.

Raise your glass

The glassware you choose is also important. I’ve made the mistake of serving it in liqueur glasses. I was wrong. So very wrong.  The common viewpoint among experts is that ice wine, like any other fine wine, should be served in glassware with a larger bowl (about 9 oz). All the better to sniff and swirl with. When you think about it, it makes sense. By swirling, you can better open up the intensity, bouquet and flavors of the ice wine. You also want to use a glass that has a stem, and hold by the stem or base to not heat your ice wine; it’s very delicate! While you might want it to stay cold as you sip, don’t you dare put ice in your ice wine. Considering what you’re paying for this rich nectar, you don’t want to water it down with melting ice. An option to keep it cold would be  whiskey stones. You can put in them the freezer, and they’ll keep your wine chilled but  won’t dilute it.

The best pairing for ice wine are chocolates, fresh fruit, and delicate, lighter cheeses. Yum.

After it’s been opened, ice wine can be re-corked and stored in the fridge for 3-5 days. But why would there be any left?? If, by chance, you’re looking for another way to use what remains, why not make an ice wine martini?

Ice Wine Martini:

10 large seedless grapes (2 halved grapes for garnish)

2oz Ice wine      (red gives a nice blush vibe to the ‘tini)

2oz Vodka                  (I use the Goose, but any will do)

ice       (yes, here you’re watering it down, so shoot me)

In your blender, puree 10 grapes with ice wine and vodka. Pour through a small strainer into the ice filled shaker. Shake it like you mean it! Strain again into a chilled martini glass and garnish with the grapes that you’ve dipped in lemon juice and sugar. Enjoy!

My Ice wine Martini

Next post, I’ll talk about the difference between Ice Wine and Iced Wines. And, yes, there is a difference between the two.

In the meantime bundle up, butter cup. We’ve got a little more ice on the horizon.

Cheers!