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Icewine or Eiswein
 This enchanting delicacy is made in Germany, Austria and various regions of Canada. It seems that icewine fever is spreading amongst growers in suitable climates. Since first
writing this article we have been contacted by readers to report examples in Ohio, Okanagan Valley, Novia Scotia and up-state New York. Wine on the Web will soon be
reporting in more detail about these latter areas. In the past, claims about the quality of icewine have been exaggerated but it is one of the rarest wines on Earth and today it seems
to be made with more care and integrity than ever before.
Just as the word 'organic' has various interpretations in different countries so does the term 'icewine' or 'eiswein'. In
general it describes a sweet white wine pressed from grapes that have been frozen solid at the time of picking. In Ontario, local regulations define that the air temperature at
the time the grapes are gathered must be a minimum of -8° Celsius and that the fruit must have been frozen solid for a minimum of 5 days. Also official inspection of the vines is
necessary for the wine to carry the name. In Germany and Austria picking must occur between -8° and -10° Celsius. When frozen the berries are coated with ice and look just like any deep frozen fruit.
Grape juice contains ripe sugar and some acidity, plus various concentrated flavours and properties, all in solution in water. Water freezes at a higher temperature than
grape juice so that when the frozen grapes are crushed the ice remains solid, while the concentrated extract of the juice flows from the press. This sticky concentrate is then
fermented rather slowly to produce a rich, golden, dense, sweet and exquisitely flavoured icewine or eiswein.
Pelee Island winery is a fascinating example of one of the most consistent icewines.
Situated in the middle of Lake Erie, the island is the most southerly part of the main Canadian territory. There are so few inhabitants that when the time arrives for picking
the frozen grapes, general manager Walter Schmoranz has to hire mainland workers from the north shore of Lake Ontario, and fly them to and from the island vineyards by helicopter.
The Point Pelee region in Ontario actually lies an hour's drive south of Detroit and is home to several outstanding icewine producers, amongst whom Pelee Island winery
and Colio have developed fine reputations. Another highly acclaimed producer of icewine is Inniskillin in the Niagara valley, also in Ontario. To purchase Niagara VQA Icwine on-line visit www.icewineniagara.net.
The origin of eiswein in Europe is the subject of various local legends but in all
likelihood most of them came about by a freak of Mother Nature. One version of the story, often referred to by Walter Schmoranz, is that in the late autumn of 1794, in the
ancient Germanic state of Franconia, vicious winter conditions arrived extraordinarily early and without warning. Bewildered peasants, who had left the grapes on their vines
to shrivel to make late-picked sweet white wines, found them frozen solid. Suddenly they were faced with the unknown and the threat of losing the remainder of their crop.
Rather than panic and abandon the grapes, they decided to pick them and see what they could achieve. The result astounded them for they had stumbled on a method of
producing the most exquisite dessert wine with intensely concentrated flavours.
Traditionally Germany has been the home of eiswein. But a couple of generations ago
the realisation dawned that Ontario was producing such wines in almost every vintage, whilst in Germany the average was one in every 3 or 4 years. In the 1980's there was a
reported attempt by a wine producer in the Mosel Valley to make eiswein in every vintage of that decade. The house concerned is a fine and honourable business but
made itself look foolish by trying to produce results that Mother Nature didn't intend. The result was abject failure in 1980, 81, 82 and 84 when it lost all the potential wine.
1983, by contrast, was an outstanding vintage for eiswein and tiny volume wines like Oberemmeler Karlsberg Riesling Eiswein, from Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, produced
the very finest dessert wines possible from that varietal.
The icewine vineyards of Ontario lie considerably south of all of the German eiswein
vineyard regions, but in winemaking terms this is not so significant. In reality the actual climatic conditions at the times of late-ripening and picking will always be the determining factors.
In Germany, over the generations, it was concluded that the later-ripening varietals like Riesling and Huxelrebe were most likely to survive the experience. Similarly, in
Canada, the Vidal Blanc has proved successful. In Austria, another unusual late-ripening variety, called Bouvier, is favoured. One other anomaly is that the year on the
bottle may not be the year when the grapes were picked. For example some of the Pelee Island Vidal Icewine 1996 was pressed between January 1st – 10th 1997. And
in Germany there is the extreme example of the state-owned winery's Staatliche Weinbaudomaine Eltville 1985 having been picked in its Rheingau vineyards as late as February 8th 1986.
Austria also produces a limited volume of eiswein, made under very similar conditions. It must be produced from overripe grapes that have been naturally shrivelled and
affected by noble rot, and they must be picked when frozen. 1981 and 1989 vintages from the vineyards around Rust in the Burgenland region, near the border with Hungary
, were widely acknowledged as truly exceptional. It is possible to produce such wine in Alsace, in Eastern France, on the slopes of the Vosges mountains, but the
classification does not confirm with French law. However this does not prevent, on occasional vintages, a small producer, called Hurst Armand, giving complimentary
bottles to a few lucky friends. Regrettably he is not permitted to sell them.
Perhaps there are other icewines or eiswein made somewhere else in the world,
maybe in Colorado, Bolivia or Bhutan. If you know and the wine is good please share the secret with your fellow readers.
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Last updated on April 30, 2008