Ice wine

Ice wine is a delightful type of dessert wine crafted from grapes that have naturally frozen while still on the vine. This freezing process intensifies the sugars and flavors in the grape juice, resulting in an exquisitely sweet wine. Unlike other dessert wines such as Sauternes or Tokaji, ice wine grapes are not meant to be affected by noble rot. Producing ice wine is both risky and labor-intensive, as the grapes must be harvested swiftly after the first frost, under very cold conditions. Canada is the world leader in ice wine production, followed by Germany.

Historically, there is evidence that the Romans utilized frozen grapes to make wine, although this technique was lost over time. The first documented post-Roman ice wine was produced in Franconia in 1794. In Germany, ice wine production commenced in the 19th century but truly flourished following the invention of the pneumatic bladder press. In North America, ice wine production began in Canada during the 1970s and subsequently spread to the United States.

Ice wine can only be produced in regions with sufficiently cold temperatures, such as Canada, Germany, Austria, and certain parts of the United States. For the wine to be regarded as true ice wine, the grapes must freeze naturally while on the vine. The high sugar content in ice wine significantly slows down the fermentation process, making it more costly to produce. Consequently, ice wines are typically sold in smaller bottles.