An Ice Wine Primer...
Ice Wine is a rich, sweet, beautifully balanced dessert wine that is a specialty of cold climates like ours and a unique taste of place. It is believed the first true ice wine was made in Franconia Germany in the late 18th century. A happy accident resulting from an unexpected early freeze, these sweet, concentrated wines were a rare treat that were not systematically produced until 100 years later.
Today, ice wine is produced from a variety of different grapes. Here at Shelburne Vineyard we use Vidal Blanc and Arctic Riesling grapes to make ours. The secret of ice wine lies in the concentration of sugar and acidity. To achieve this, the grapes are left to hang on the vine into the winter months until they freeze. By then the foliage has fallen off leaving the grapes exposed, so the crop must be covered with netting to keep the birds away.
When the temperature reaches about 15° F (usually mid-December) the grapes are ready to harvest. They are picked by hand (often at night or early morning to insure they remain frozen) and then pressed while frozen. By doing this, only the slushy sugar in the grape is extracted, leaving the frozen water behind. The result is a very small yield of concentrated, intense juice high in sugar and acidity.
We ferment our ice wine in stainless tanks and then allow it to age for a few months to achieve the complexity that makes ice wine so alluring. We're excited about our 2011 ice wine harvest and look forward to sharing it with you!
