ITS DENISE’S BIRTHDAY! TO CELEBRATE WE ARE HAVING ICE WINE WITH CAKE!

Have you ever had an Ice Wine? It can be a great wine to pair with dessert.

What is Ice wine? It comes from the German word Eiswein. It is a sweet wine made from ripe and healthy grapes that are picked after being allowed to freeze on the vine. The grapes are pressed while frozen resulting in a juice with a higher sugar content. Canada is the world’s leading producer of ice wine where they have trademarked the term “Icewine.” Onterio is the leading province in Canada for the production of Icewine, and Canada has strict rules on its production. It must be naturally frozen. The air temperature must be -8 degrees C/17.6 degrees F or less during the harvesting and pressing of the grapes, which must be a continuous process. The grapes must not have less than 35 Brix sugar and the bottled wine must have at least 100 g/l residual sugar. All Icewine is a varietal wine and must be Vinifera grapes or the French hybrid Vidal Blanc.

The bottles are typically 375 milliliters, or half the size of a normal wine bottle. Some of these wines are not cheap. They are more expensive because the wines are not easy to make, the yields are lower, and there are many risks in making them. First, the grapes can rot or animals can eat them. Then after harvest, yeasts or bacteria on the grapes can affect the taste. Also, the grapes and processing must also occur in the cold and normally at night.

What is Brix, pronounced “Bricks”? It measures the amount of sugar in the grapes. It is measured by a handheld refractometer and is measured in degrees. Each degree equals 1 g of sugar per 100 g of juice. A typical white wine has between 20- and 24-degrees brix and red wines between 22- and 26-brix. Sparkling wines range around 17- or 18-brix. The alcohol potential of the wine can be calculated from the Brix by multiplying the degrees of brix by between 0.55 to 0.65. Higher alcohol levels can be achieved by adding sugar during the fermentation process.

Tonight, our two wines include:

1. 2023 Northwind Vidal Icewine, purchased at Costco for $19.99. It has 10.5% alcohol. It has aromas of wildflower honey, candied orange peel, and lychee. Flavors of pineapple, peach, and honey. High sugar is balanced by high acidity.
2. NV Cooper’s Hawk Ice wine, purchased at Cooper’s Hawk for $29.99. Aromas of apricot, peach puree, ripe pineapple, candied mango, butterscotch, and honeycomb. Similar on palate with a burst of tartness on the finish. Pairs with Crème brulee and pineapple cake. 13.5% alcohol.

Next week we will have something a little different. We will sample a few wine-based cocktails to help you get ready for Christmas.