hot days? ice wines.
image found here
Ice wines are such a treat and so absolutely delicious, we just had to give them a special mention. I love the ice wine from Hopkins Vineyard and have been not so patiently awaiting the release of Sunset Meadow Vineyards… so to make the waiting all the more painful, I figured I would write about them!
Some of you might adore them as much as we do and know the process that makes these wines so special. Yet there are still many people who aren’t aware of these wines or don’t really understand the difference between an ice wine and a dessert wine or late harvest. This is where we spread the love!
Ice wines started back in Germany in 1794. Legend has it that a German winemaker found himself in quite a predicament: he was out on a jaunt instead of tending to his vines and his grapes had frozen on the vine while he was away. He was forced to press juice from frozen fruit. The wine that was produced was so flavorful and sweet that is started to be produced intentionally by the mid 1800′s. Over 100 years later, the first Canadian ice wine was made, launching an industry that has grown exponentially since the 1990s. Canada is now the world’s largest producer of ice wine.
What distinguishes a true ice wine is that the wine must be naturally produced – no artificial freezing allowed! This makes ice wine very difficult to create. Grapes must be protected against too extreme temperatures, and because they are the last grapes on the vines, they must be defended vigorously against birds and other animals. As in all harvests, the exact moment of harvest is extremely important for ice wine. Ideally the temperature should get to -10°C to -13°C before picking. This provides the optimum level of sugar and flavor in the grapes. There is tremendous risk when producing an ice wine… if they freeze too late, the grapes can rot. If the freeze is too severe, the grapes don’t produce any juice. Too early, they don’t hit the right balance. AND even when the timing is absolutely perfect, the yield is so small {one grape will release only a few drops of super-sweet liquid before the water crystals have time to thaw} that these wines come at a hefty price… but they are SO worth it!
When harvesting grapes for ice wine, all the harvesting is done by hand and quickly. The grapes must be pressed while frozen so harvest often starts very late at night and lasts into the wee hours of the next morning. Less than healthy grapes will not make it through until the time comes to harvest ice wine grapes, which generally takes place in November or even late December or early January, meaning that ice wine grapes are free of the rot that can impair the flavour of dessert wines. The fermentation process takes considerable more time than your standard table wine. Ice wines have significantly more sugar so it can take months for all that sugar to convert to alcohol. On the contrary, a table wine can ferment in a number of days or weeks. The final color of an ice wine is a rich, golden color or gorgeous, dark amber. A variety of grapes are used to produce ice wines with Riesling, Vidal Blanc and Cabernet Franc among the most common. These grapes grow beautifully in our New England climate and is a reason why ice wines can be made so successfully in our region for the brave few who dare to try!
To be considered a true “ice wine,”, the final product must have a sufficient Brix degree {mass ratio of dissolved sucrose to water in a liquid.} If it does not, the wine is sold as a “select late harvest” at a much lower price than ice wine. You want to serve your ice wines chilled but not cold so you can truly enjoy all the flavors. The flavor is a combination of apricot, peach, mango, melon or other sweet nectars and is typically sipped as a dessert wine. They are unique because the sweetness is balanced by high acidity making for a very dry finish. Absolute perfection!
Opinion is divided over whether ice wines lend themselves well to ageing. While some wine enthusiasts argue that the high sugar level and acidity effectively preserve the content after bottling, others argue that the ageing process takes away the acidity that makes ice wine such a distinctive drink. Ice wines never hang around my house very long so I can not give you my personal take on that debate.
Soooo, back to Hopkins I go to re-stock my cellar. And to my dear friends at Sunset Meadow Vineyards who so graciously allowed me a pre-taste of their wine at my last visit and have sent me reeling into wine obsession ever since…. Is it ready YET???
{information for this article was written from personal knowledge as well as from here, here and here! Hey, did you know that Sunset Meadow Vineyards offers direct delivery throughout Connecticut?? That’s right, WINE delivered to your DOOR. How sweet is that???}
