Breaking Ice with Ice Wine
Also known as Eiswein, Ice Wine is a type of Dessert Wine which is produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on vine. However, while the water in grape freezes, sugar & dissolved solids do not freeze. Eventually, this allows a more concentrated grape which must be pressed from frozen grapes and thereby results in smaller amount of more concentrated and highly sweet wine.
Freezing happens prior to fermentation during production of Ice Wine. Only healthy grapes which are in good shape until the time of Ice Wine harvest are utilized for manufacturing of this type of wine. Characteristics of Ice Wine produced this way behold refreshing sweetness that is balanced by high acidity.
Producing Ice Wine is Risky Business
Production of Ice Wine is risky because the frost may not come at all or get lost before grapes rot. For this reason availability of a large labor force is required for picking the whole crop within a few hours of time. This is one of the prime reasons as to why there are small amounts of Ice Wine which is made worldwide.
Ice Wines are therefore expensive since making Ice Wine itself is quite expensive. Production of Ice Wine nowadays is restricted to wine-growing regions where cold temperatures are reached with regularity. Germany & Canada are the largest producers of Ice Wine and about 75 percent of Canadian Ice Wine comes from the Ontario region.
History of Ice Wine
Frozen grapes were also used for making wine during Roman times. While wine made in Chiomonte in Val di Susa was popular during the Roman era, this town still indulges in producing one of the few finest Ice Wines in Italy.
However, Eiswein harvests during the 19th century & until 1960 were rare occurrence in Germany, the invention of pneumatic bladder press subsequently made production of Ice Wine practical and eventually led to substantial increase in frequency and quantity of production.
Ice Wine in Modern World
The first Ice Wine in modern history was produced in 1984 in Canada and is recorded as the first Ice Wine in the country. This Ice Wine was produced in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia by German immigrant Walter Hainle. Resulting from an early & unexpected frost, the first commercially produced Canadian Ice Wine was released in Canada in 1978.
However, Ice Wine is nowadays also available in European countries like Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Italy, Hungary, France, Georgia, Denmark, Czech Republic, Croatia & Austria. Other countries where you can grab a bottle of Ice Wine include Japan & the United States.
