Ice Wine: What Is, & What Really Isn’t
Last year at this time, it seemed that just about every other person that came into the shop asked for Ice Wine or wanted to talk about it. Did that translate into sales? Hell no. Became the nut in my holiday muffin, it did.
Obviously people were being inundated with the idea of Ice Wine, but no real information (cough, cough in-flight magazines, cough). This happens quite a bit in the wine bit-ness. Nobody wanted Ice Wine after I talked to them. Whatever I was saying unsold the stuff. Namely, the truth. So why not change my sales pitch? No fucking way. It would have been like selling shit and calling it chocolate. Aristotle’s propositional funtion fails here. Shit is brown. Chocolate is brown. But that doesn’t mean…well, you get the idea.
The truth is, 99 times out of 100, unless it says Canada, Germany, or Austria…..it ain’t ice wine.
I’m not going to get all technical on you; it’s not a difficult concept. Screw wine snob speak. Ice Wine is not about the ice; it’s the other stuff that happens to the grapes in the winter that makes a true ice wine. In America, grapes must be Mama Naturally frozen on the vine for at least 48 hours in order to use the phrase “ice wine” on the label. That’s it. That’s all it takes, and it misses the whole point. Now all you have is a bunch of frozen grapes. The same grapes, just frozen. What’s different? These grapes, they’re frozen.
Now, travel to the Rheinland. It’s October. Winemakers pick grapes for regular harvest, noticing grapes that are being effected by botrytis. All you need to know is the fact that botrytis causes grapes to shrivel, losing their water. It raisinates them. And the freezing temperatures preserve the grapes while all this is happening. So by November you have dried, frozen grapes on the vine. Sometimes winemakers pick them as late as January. When they do, they have raisins, with hardly any water.
Take a bowl full of frozen grapes and a bowl full of frozen raisins. Press them. One gives you a glass of grape juice, the other a little bit of uber-concentrated, syrupy substance. If you made wine out of these two things, which would be the more complex? The most concentrated? Mmmhmmm.
In the taste, Ice Wine should make your entire face react. The balance between that hyper-intense sweetness and equally insane acidity should cause an eye to twitch, hair to stand on end, a shudder in your neck. The saliva glands in the back of your mouth will convulse.
That’s the difference between most American market “ice wines” and the good shit. And that’s why the good shit costs lots of the green shit. More time, more grapes, more labor involved, more flavor. And that’s why I never changed my sales pitch. Because if you just want sweet, you can do it a lot cheaper. And most people who think they’ve had an ice wine, have really just had a dessert wine.
I put my explanation to the test in a recent tasting. Here are my notes to self.
Ste. Chappelle 2003 “Ice Wine” Riesling, Idaho - I taste the peach and apricot that I expect, but I don’t get the acidity. This is a syrup, something to be drizzled over a tart or a terrine. I don’t want to drink it. Now, if you just judge it by dessert wine standards, it’s a decent bottle of sweet, I’d say very soft, honeyed wine. But a little pricey for $18. I’d maybe sell it, but I wouldn’t drink it. But it’s represented by Canandaigua (explains a lot) so I guess I wouldn’t sell it. These grapes froze a few days, were picked in October.
Covey Run 2003 “Barrel Select” Riesling “Ice Wine,” Washington - A little more complex, still missing that essential acidity–no reaction in my glands. Eh hmm. The aroma is more complex and fruit flavors are lighter, a little citrus, a bit of apple–they don’t seem to feel as heavy on my tongue. It’s still not ice wine, but as a dessert wine on the shelf for $13-15, it’s a great value. But it’s also repped by Canandaigua; and the “barrel select” term doubly pisses me off. These grapes froze a few days, were picked end of October.
Mission Hill 2003 Riesling Ice Wine, Canada - OK, now I’m starting to get it–acidity! I feel my mouth water after I swallow this wine. It tastes like a pluot, or a nectarine, not as cloying as some of the peachy-er wines–it’s got almost a little tangy, zingy lime to it. Great aroma, like wild honey. I’m getting the intensity, the balance–a little shudder. These grapes froze, partially dried and were picked in November and January.
J.u.H.A. Strub 2001 Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Eiswein, with a name like that, it’s got to be German. Oh my, technically the sweetest of the group by half, doesn’t taste like it. Rich, laser beam pineapple fruit, with hints of I lost count. Honeycomb, lemon, mango, a field of flowers, and an entire english garden are stuck inside this bottle. My eye involuntarily closes, goose bumps, auto-salivation. Yep. This is the stuff. Grapes dried on the vine, were picked late January.
Anyone could tell the difference, when these are tasted side by side. And I have the testimonials. I tasted these wines recently with a group of wine lovers and novices, and saw the revelation in everyone’s eyes. But how often do you get the chance to do it, you ask? That’s not the point.
The point is false advertising, cheap Made in China-like knock offs. Corporations need wineries to make more so they can make more. Ice Wine doesn’t fit in to that mentality.
Restaurants don’t pan fry a cube steak and call it filet mignon, do they? You’d be pissed, wouldn’t you? Would it make it any better if they sold it for less? No! You’d never know what was what. So I object to any old frozen grapes being called Ice Wine, like California bucket wine called “Mountain Burgundy.” These names mean something. Even if they don’t to you. And when you use these names in a manner that doesn’t befit the original, you cheapen them. And that’s not fair. Even if we are talking about the Germans.
December 1st, 2005 at 10:57 am
Once again you explain something I always wondered about but never seemed to be able to get anything like a straight answer from any sort of wine nerd or wine professional. It makes perfect sense now. Why couldn'’t they just say what you said??????? You’re like Channakuh every day.
December 1st, 2005 at 12:18 pm
One correction to add. While the Oechsle levels may be similar to Auslese or Beerenauslese, most German eiswein producers select grapes with minimal botrytis for their eisweins, as they feel this makes for purer wines. The best Eiswein grapes are desiccated more by the long hang time than they are by botrytis.
Marshall
December 1st, 2005 at 12:22 pm
I agree that the best ones have that balance between sweetness and acidity.. Up here in the frozen tundra Vidal is used more often than Riesling.. much less acidity, like a ‘tarte-tatin’ in a glass.. perhaps less elegant and vibrant but depending on the mood, it can be equally satisfying..kinda like a lazy afternoon lay.
December 1st, 2005 at 1:38 pm
Bill - aw, shucks.
Marshall - Thanks for the comments. But look at the big words you use! You don’t need to use those here Marshall; we’re all friends. Especially with this topic. Though I agree partly with your response, I was specifically NOT geeking out and keeping it simple to prove a point that the wine B.I.Z. makes things to GD complicated.
caveman - any favorites we can get via internet but maybe aren’t available in the US? Share with the class……
December 1st, 2005 at 2:25 pm
Hey Maggie,
Don’t know about who is shipping what to where, but in Ontario Pillitteri and konzelmann do pretty sexy Vidal. My fave is a quebec vidal from Marathonien though i think you would have to get yer ass up here to get some… and M&M is right about the botrytis but what exactly is ‘dessicated’…. ?
December 1st, 2005 at 2:38 pm
Don’t blame me for the long words, blame the Germans!
On the other hand, some things about wine are complicated and involve some education. I don’t want to blow sunshine up anyone’s skirt by saying “oh, wine is easy”. Drinking wine is easy, Knowing what you enjoy doesn’t involve a whole lot more. But learning about wine, its history, and the various regions takes a lot of time, and many years of wine drinking. I’ve been doing it for about 20 years and still feel like I don’t know anywhere near enough.
Odds are that people who don’t know much about wine won’t be the ones buying eiswein at $150 per 375ml bottle!
December 1st, 2005 at 2:50 pm
—-M.M.
……you’d be surprised….Seattle is one of the nouveau riche capitals of the world. People spend crazy money on all sorts of shit they know nothing about up here, because they can. Didn’t mean to come off harsh, so sorry if I did. No, wine isn’t easy. But I don’t want people thinking it’s hard either. There’s enough people out there doing that, trying to retain their “expertise.” I’d like to give all mine away for free, in comic book form ideally. But this blog will do. Cheers, mate.
December 1st, 2005 at 3:19 pm
I, personally, loove the word Beeeeerenowwwschlayzzuh, and say it whenever possible, in context or otherwise. Sometimes, if I\’m feeling frustrated or surly or constipated, I just yell \
December 1st, 2005 at 3:23 pm
…”Beerenauslese!!” and it makes it all better.
Thanks for clearing up the “ice wine” issue…it’s always a challenge explaining why the Eiswein we have in stock is soooo much more expensive than the bottle they had somewhere in Oklahoma.
PS—Have you tried any of those Apple Wines coming out of Canada? I’ve tried one, and they’re dreamy, but hard to find.
(sorry about the weird two posts, don’t know why that happened.)
December 2nd, 2005 at 11:42 am
Taj,
The best ones can be great. There are 2 kinds, those who take the juice and freeze it and a select few that pick the apples off the tree at -28…The best of the best is ‘La Face Cachée de la Pomme’ and his ‘Frimas.’ It does some time in barrel and while the apples are undeniably there,there is so much more…
Cavernous Dude
PS.. I like both your sites alot .. nice to see a couple of woman mixing it up in this ever so boy dominated industry
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:49 pm
Sometimes tech freaks me out …taj, there are some good ice ciders.. and some great.. The majority is frozen juice and the acidity is a bit out of wack.. but if you can get a bottle of ‘frimas’ from ‘ La Face Caché de la Pomme’ is well worth the effort… Apples picked at -28 from this wierd hybrid apples tree that never drops it’s load.
Caveman
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:49 pm
sorry for the double post… my puter wacked out while i was commenting
December 2nd, 2005 at 12:54 pm
Oh yeah, an Apple ice cider from the folks who distribute Unibroue comes to mind. It’s called Niege (frenchie for snow). It’s from Face Cachee I’m pretty sure. GORGEOUS, liquid apple plutonium. And at only about $30 a bottle, actually in gift range.
December 2nd, 2005 at 1:25 pm
Mag,
yeah neige is the frozen juice variety.. see if your unibroue dudes can get you some frima..double the price but well worth it.. you have Unibroue in seattle?
December 30th, 2005 at 7:49 pm
Uh, just saw this post–sorry to be late to the party. But now I’m wondering–that $40 bottle of Ice Wine I purchased in the Finger Lakes–where things do freeze but not every year (all the wineries admit that ice wine is not available everyyear–did I pay too much? Do they need to relabel? Any advice about what they’re really doing up here in snow country?
January 5th, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Hi folks, it’s a bit late in the show but I thought I’d send in a few bits about ice wine.
It was an accident. The Germans got hit by some freak weather a few centuries ago (while they still had grapes waiting to ripen, which explains the requisite acid levels) and harvested the suckers frozen because . . . who knows? Vacation time was coming up or they had to go invade the Poles or something. ANYHOW . . . they managed to get about 1/10 of the usual amount of juice because everything was frozen except for super sugar saturated drops in each grape. Then they made ice wine. Here in Canada, out west, in the Okanagan Valley which sure as shit will be super famous when my unborn grandkids are my age - we require the grapes to be harvested at no warmer than -8 Celsius. I’m not sure what that is in American. The grapes must remain frozen as they are pressed (It can take days). It’s a good job for some unfortunate newbie. “Hey there lassie, would ye like to be PRESS SUPERVISOR for the next couple days at your usual minimum wage?”. The liquid is very thick and can take months to ferment to a point where the alcohol is about 9 to 13% and the yeast just gives up: drowned as it were in it’s own food source and waste products. Funniest thing about ice wine is the PR buzz around it. Many vineyards get volunteer- that’s right, UNPAID, pickers to come out at 4:00 AM to freeze their tender bits off to get in on the romance of the ice wine harvest. Apparently the lure of frostbite, free hot chocolate and a Tim Horton’s donut out of the back of a dirty pick-up truck is more powerful than a warm bed.
Well, it ain’t.
Been there, done that, pay me double.
If my boss(es) come to me this summer and say, “Hey, wine maker dude, how about we make some frozen outlaw this year?” I’ll demand a special clause in the contract allowing a paid, two week tropical vacation.
January 9th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
Arrived at this discussion via Basic Juice (congratulations on the big award- and very well deserved)
Just in case anyone is interested, you can find true, actual Austrian Ice Wine available at our shop- www.winemonger.com. Prices start at $18.99 for a half-bottle (375 ml)
We specialize in Austrian wines, which we import ourselves.
Cheers!
March 29th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I am in germany right now for two weeks, and am loving it. I never heard of Genuine Eiswein(German IceWine) until i took this cruise down the rhine river, and visited a few Wine tasting places. All they had to do was give us a free taste of IceWine and we were sold, best wine I have ever had. I bought 7 bottles:-) Does anybody know where you can buy German Eiswein online? I tried to google it, but just got US stuff and this web site. By the way, I enjoyed to lesson, very informative.
December 17th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
My mother lives in canada in quebec and it oringated from there. its quit expense for a bottle the taste of the apple cider is great its in a very thin bottle it goes down very smooth but has a kick to it. I love it my family just loves it but its hard to get it in the states.
January 10th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Help! NewYears Eve while enjoying some ice wine (rec’d as a gift)with our neighbours, one inquired “are the frozen grapes picked by hand or cut off the vine so not to injure them”?
May 10th, 2007 at 5:44 am
Personally I like red and white, it depends on what I want at that time. Over all I think quality is important and it’s good for health as well. The art of drinking wine is one that many people appreciate. For these people having a good quality wine means that it can be drunk at the right temperature. This means that the wine should not be too warm where the sophisticated flavour will be lost. One of the nicest wines that you can buy is an ice wine. Find more on this page here http://www.wine-expert-101.com/Ice-Wine.php
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Have you since tried Canada’s Neige Ice Cider Wine…?
February 25th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Your post is very misleading.
There are some very good ice wines made in the U.S. The Grand River Valley wine Growers produce authentic ice wines frozen on the vine.