Sumptuous ice wine

As temperatures plunge, winemakers await the ideal moment to make scrumptious ice wine from grapes that were deliberately left hanging on the vine well past their normal harvest time.

Although Pliny the Elder makes reference to frozen or vine-dried grapes in the first century, the first documented eiswein was produced in the Franconia wine region of Germany in 1794. Even though records suggest yearly production of eiswein, the unreliable German climate suggests otherwise.

As well as Germany, smaller quantities of ice wine are now produced throughout Europe. The most northerly vineyards, in Sweden, are noted for their ice wines. In Luxembourg and Alsace, ice wine is called vin de glace. In other countries like France, Switzerland or Austria, the climate, does not lend itself to ice-wine production. I should note that the Piemonte commune of Chiomonte, the only remaining Italian ice wine producer, created wine that was widely sought by the Roman Empire.

In Canada, we can make simply sumptuous, lip-smacking ice wine every year. It took a German immigrant, Walter Heinle, to see the potential of the Okanagan Valley. But even he thought his ice wine was a fortunate mishap of little or no value. Canadian ice wine did not really evolve until the early 1980s in Ontario, when Karl Kaiser of Inniskillen, Ewald Reif of Reif Estates and Andreas Gestaltner of Hillebrand Estates recognized the magic of the Niagara Peninsula. Pelee Island Winery found similar success on the shores of Lake Erie. Because of its climate, Canada—Ontario in particular—produces most of the world’s ice wine from Vidal, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and occasionally Cabernet Franc. We consistently receive awards from prestigious wine fairs.

Ice wine does cost more. Its production is hugely labor intensive, and the yield is tiny in comparison to regular still wine. But, then again, one does not quaff it like regular wine—one or two ounces will suffice. And don’t forget that ice wines are always well received as a gift for hosting or Christmas.