I love ice wine. I sip it after dinner as a dessert. I was delighted to find this wine at the reasonable price of $19.99. This wine earned the Wine Spectators score of 91 points. Wiford Wong rates it as a 90.

The ‘06 Jackson-Triggs Vidal Ice Wine has beeswax, orange peel and dried apricot notes that mark this aromatically intense dessert wine; sweetness is matched by bracing acidity.

Technorati Tags: eiswein, ice wine, ice wine riesling, ice wines, icewine, icewines

Near the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in Ontario, one of the worlds famous ice wine winery of Niagrara -on-the-Lake Inniskillin Winery. This winery really put ice wine on the map. They were the first to recognize the grape friendliness of Ontario. The region has hot summers and cold winters was perfect for ice wine grapes. Inniskillin founders entered their Vidal Icewine in a prestigeous French wine competitioon and won.

A bottle of ice wine routinely sells for two or three times the price of regular wine. Other wineries soon followed.

The road to Inniskillin runs parallel to the Niagara River , which separates the Untited States from Canada. The fields stretch falt as far as the eye can see, the rows perpendicular to the river to allow breezes off the water to circulate.

It is fascinating to visit the cellars and learn about the process of winemaking. The best part, of course, is the wine tasting!

Technorati Tags: eiswein, ice wine, ice wine riesling, ice wines, icewine, icewines, Inniskillin, Ontario, winemaking

I attended the Hopland, CA Wine Passport Weekend. On thee list of winery is a small family winery run by the Nelson Family. All of their grapes are estate grown. All of their wine is produced in small batches to ensure the highest quality wine. I had the opportunity to taste their 2003 Ice Riesling. Pure decadence. One sniff and could smell flowers and apricots. I was fortunate to be able to buy a bottle, but it is now sold out. I will have to wait until next year to get my hands on more.

Eiswein is a rich, savory dessert wine that is made by picking grapes that are frozen on the vine, then pressing them before they thaw. Because much of the water in the grapes is frozen, the end result of the juice is converged rich in flavor and high in sugar and acid. Ice wines are renowned in Germany, where they’re called Eiswein. In 1982, Eiswein became one of the six subcategories of qualitätswein mit prädikat. In order to meet the requirements, a wine’s must needs to reach the minimum natural sugar levels of Beerenauslese category wines-110 to 128° oechsle, depending on the region and the selection. Austria has an Eiswein category that’s comparable and requires a minimum 127° oechsle. Eiswein is a specialty of Canada, whose cold weather makes exceptional examples of this specialty. In fact, Canadians now produce more Eiswein than Germany, and has vqa policies that define the sugar content required for this designation to be used on labels. Other cold weather areas, such as the more northern of the United States, are now also producing Eiswein .

Ice wine ordinarily has a somewhat lower alcohol content than regular table wine. Some Riesling ice wines from Germany have an alcohol content as low as 6%. Ice wines made in Canada generally have higher alcohol content, between eight and 13 percent. In most years, ice wines from Canada generally have higher brix degree compared to those from Germany. This is mainly due to the more reliable winters in Canada. Must with inadequate brix level cannot be made into ice wine, and is thus often sold as “special select late harvest” or “select late harvest” at a fraction of the price that true ice wine commands.

Even though it is normal for remaining sugar content in ice wine to run from 180 g/L up to as high as 320 g/L, along with a mean in the 220 g/L range, ice wine is very invigorating due to high acidity. Ice wine typically has a medium to full body, with a long lingering finish. The nose is usually suggestive of peach, pear, dried apricot, honey, citrus, figs, caramel, green apple, etc., depending on the varietal. The aroma of tropical and exotic fruits such as pineapple, mango, or lychee is quite common, especially on white varietals.

Typical grapes used for ice wine production are Riesling, considered to be the noblest variety by German winemakers; Vidal, highly popular in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada; and, interestingly, the red grape Cabernet Franc. Many vintners, especially from the New World, are experimenting with making ice wine from other varieties: whites such as Seyval Blanc, Chardonnay, Kerner, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, and Ehrenfelser; or reds such as Merlot, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon. Pillitteri Estates Winery from the Niagara-on-the-Lake region of Ontario recently claimed to be the first winery in the world producing Shiraz ice wine.
About the Author

Lindsay Alston is an expert author for ClassicWines.com specializing in Eiswein .

Technorati Tags: canada icewines, eiswein, ice wine vinegar, ice wines, icewine

And preferably good value?

I had some late harvest reisling a few weeks ago that blew my mind. It was super delicious, I don't know where you're from but here in Washington you can get this stuff in the store if you are in a bigger city. Here's a link to buy online.

Dumb name but SO good.
2006 Pacific Rim Vin de Glaciere

Also, what's the best way to store it?

The age-ability of the wine depends on how well it is made and how well balanced its elements are, just like with dry wines. For dessert wines, ACIDITY is the key, not alcohol or sugar.

In red wines, the tannins and acidity allow the wine to age for a long time, but only if they are in balance and there is ample fruit to last all that time.

In white wine, aging potential depends more on acidity rather than tannin. That is why the most age worthy white wines are those with ample acidity like German Rieslings, white Burgundy, and Sauternes.

A lot of the ice wines out there are lacking in acidity. It depends on what grape was used to make the ice wine. Ice wines are made from a number of different grapes (red and white) such as Vidal, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I'd have more confidence in the ability of a Riesling ice wine to age well.

The sugar itself will not allow the wine to age for decades. They will keep for a few years, but are not expected to improve and will not go the distance for, say, a 25th anniversary.

A good, well balanced Sauternes, however, due to its higher acidity level, can last 20-30 years.

In summary, while ice wine is really good, the majority of them are not meant for long term aging. Enjoy them now.

Cheers!

I’d intended to have 90 mins siesta, an hour ago, after asking a P&S (survey) question @ creative, fun recipes for seasonal fresh vegetables

I then linked these 8 URLs of ‘em & said I aint studied ‘em - to give YOU dat fun:-

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind…

Isn’t it funny how, if ya start to talk @ food, ya can’t stop thinkin’ @ it & ya get hungry?

Anyway, what inspired this question now is that I had half a tin of pineapples left from lunch

& as I poured some of ‘em into this nice big brekkie bowl, I saw my bananas & chopped one into the pineapple chunks, then flavoured it all with bot tropical & summer fruits cordial

& it’s SOOO deliciously refreshing

What I will maybe do later in the evening - midway from evening meal to bedtime - is peel a lovely pink grapefruit I have in the fridge & have it with the rest of the pineapple chunks - again, flavoured with those ACE cordials

How @ YOU?

Has this summer inspired any interesting ideas @ fruit, wines, ice creams, etc?
Sorry: that link to 8 URLs @ seasonal fresh vegetables fun recipes:-

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvnKHZ3N5CwR4u50DtyiNEogBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20080815074838AAlBAK2

Do answer health & safety questions @ 'em there, OK?

When the Summer does finally arrive in The UK, l`ll bear it in mind ta!