Apr 2007
Icewine - Keepin' it cool
April, 2007 Filed in: Wine making
Seemingly the world is getting wowed by Canada’s famous Icewine. Whether it be a fad or a new institution, an effective marketing job is putting this Canadian wine on the map. It helps in having the right weather for it, not a nice thought in July, although at the time of this writing it feels like snow out there.
Canada does not have the monopoly on Icewine, actually this delicacy originated in Germany. The creative Germans originated this delicacy quite by accident. The story goes that an unexpected frost, in Bavaria, back in the 18th century left the German growers with a dilemma, how do you make wine with frozen grapes. ... Well they found that the freezing process concentrates the sugars and results in an intensely sugary juice. More than half of the water being left behind as crushed ice. The resulting juice is so high in sugar that it will only ferment very, very slowly. The downside of the Icewine production is that when you leave the water behind, you are left with precious little volume. A whole vine might only produce half a bottle of ice wine. I guess this is the rationale for commercial Icewine selling for about $60 per half bottle.
In order to be called Icewine the process must adhere to the following rules:
The grapes must freeze naturally on the vines
There are strict minimums for starting gravity and residual sugar levels
You cannot add sugar to the must
Icewine from kits
Icewine kits are strictly speaking, Icewine style, that’s because the raw cost of naturally frozen grape juice, if it were available, would be something like $200/gall. And in kit form would likely run into the thousands of dollars. Therefore Icewine style kits are produced using concentrate, cold processed product from ripe grapes. If it weren’t for the legislative rules governing Icewine this is how everyone would make it, more practical, convenient and economical. The result is great Icewine like product which we would dare any to distinguish from the precious Icewine that sells for $60/half bottle.
Because of the high sugar content of commercial Icewine, fermentation can be extremely difficult. For this reason Icewine kits, contain a juice reserve pack (F-pack in Winexpert kits. (Sweet reserve in CellarCraft kits). This allows us “amateurs” to easily ferment the Icewine style kits.
Icewine style kits differ from regular wine kits in that they produce 30 half bottles (375 ml). Most people drink Icewine in small amounts and therefore this size make much more sense.
One very important piece of advice is to make sure you add the correct amount of water on day one. Without the correct amount of water added, the sugar level could be high enough to kill the yeast sprinkled into it. This could happen if you leave out as little as two cups of water.
Creative Connoisseur carries three different Icewine style kits. Our award winning Selection Speciale Riesling Icewine Style is a 7.5 litre kit which makes an excellent dessert wine with intense aromas and flavours of honey, peach, sweet citrus and marmalade.
We also have 2 excellent CellarCraft Icewine style kits both from Washington state juice. CellarCraft’s Icewine style kits contain 12 litres of full strength must and produce 12 litres of finished wine with the addition of no water. Their Washington state Riesling Icewine style kit produces Icewine with prominent peach, apricot and honey notes, while the Washington state Gewurztraminer Icewine style bursts with spice, lychee aromas and richly intense flavours.
Icewine can be enjoyed well chilled on its own, or to accompany any dessert, particularly with fruit based desserts. Or treat yourself to an almost sinful dessert by pouring your Icewine over your favorite ice cream.
Canada does not have the monopoly on Icewine, actually this delicacy originated in Germany. The creative Germans originated this delicacy quite by accident. The story goes that an unexpected frost, in Bavaria, back in the 18th century left the German growers with a dilemma, how do you make wine with frozen grapes. ... Well they found that the freezing process concentrates the sugars and results in an intensely sugary juice. More than half of the water being left behind as crushed ice. The resulting juice is so high in sugar that it will only ferment very, very slowly. The downside of the Icewine production is that when you leave the water behind, you are left with precious little volume. A whole vine might only produce half a bottle of ice wine. I guess this is the rationale for commercial Icewine selling for about $60 per half bottle.
In order to be called Icewine the process must adhere to the following rules:
The grapes must freeze naturally on the vines
There are strict minimums for starting gravity and residual sugar levels
You cannot add sugar to the must
Icewine from kits
Icewine kits are strictly speaking, Icewine style, that’s because the raw cost of naturally frozen grape juice, if it were available, would be something like $200/gall. And in kit form would likely run into the thousands of dollars. Therefore Icewine style kits are produced using concentrate, cold processed product from ripe grapes. If it weren’t for the legislative rules governing Icewine this is how everyone would make it, more practical, convenient and economical. The result is great Icewine like product which we would dare any to distinguish from the precious Icewine that sells for $60/half bottle.
Because of the high sugar content of commercial Icewine, fermentation can be extremely difficult. For this reason Icewine kits, contain a juice reserve pack (F-pack in Winexpert kits. (Sweet reserve in CellarCraft kits). This allows us “amateurs” to easily ferment the Icewine style kits.
Icewine style kits differ from regular wine kits in that they produce 30 half bottles (375 ml). Most people drink Icewine in small amounts and therefore this size make much more sense.
One very important piece of advice is to make sure you add the correct amount of water on day one. Without the correct amount of water added, the sugar level could be high enough to kill the yeast sprinkled into it. This could happen if you leave out as little as two cups of water.
Creative Connoisseur carries three different Icewine style kits. Our award winning Selection Speciale Riesling Icewine Style is a 7.5 litre kit which makes an excellent dessert wine with intense aromas and flavours of honey, peach, sweet citrus and marmalade.
We also have 2 excellent CellarCraft Icewine style kits both from Washington state juice. CellarCraft’s Icewine style kits contain 12 litres of full strength must and produce 12 litres of finished wine with the addition of no water. Their Washington state Riesling Icewine style kit produces Icewine with prominent peach, apricot and honey notes, while the Washington state Gewurztraminer Icewine style bursts with spice, lychee aromas and richly intense flavours.
Icewine can be enjoyed well chilled on its own, or to accompany any dessert, particularly with fruit based desserts. Or treat yourself to an almost sinful dessert by pouring your Icewine over your favorite ice cream.