🍷 Ice wine

Ice wine is a sweet wine made from grapes that froze on the vine. It is made mainly in Germany, Austria and Canada. Germans call it Eiswein.

The bunches are left on the vine until hard frost. They are picked when the temperature is −7 °C or colder, usually at night or early in the morning. The berries are pressed while still frozen. The water in them stays as ice, and only thick, very sweet juice runs into the press. So very little wine is made, and it is expensive.

In Canada, ice wine often uses the Vidal Blanc grape, and the VQA system applies. It is not the same as cryoextraction, where grapes are frozen artificially. Ice wine counts among sweet and late-harvest wines, though it has its own technique. Similar designations exist in the Czech Republic. The wine is sweet, but acidity keeps it fresh. It is served in small portions, usually chilled, with desserts or cheese.