ice wine?

[jensim]

I'm new to this....what is an "ice wine?"

[californiagirl]

Yummy=)

[Innkeeper]

Ice wine is made by picking grapes after the first hard freeze, very carefully, and immediately crushing them. Some folks make a faux ice wine, by putting late harvest grapes in the freezer first.

[TheEngineer]

I agree... = Yum! Mostly made in the Niagara Wine region of Ontario and I'm assuming some Fingerlakes wineries in NY and then in Germany and Austria. The local (ie Canadian) ones then to be the most available and easiest to find.

Icewines as noted above are made in a very extreme way. 85% of the water content is lost due to the freeze dry...essentially, you are pressing a raisin for a drop of juice. This leads to a very dense, very sweet, very thick, very intense and very flavorful wine. The color is a beautiful golden color and the nose is enough to stop people in their tracks (for those who like this kind of stuff).

You will find Inniskillin (a very large and reputable brand) and Jackson Triggs most often in the US, though, Royal de Maria (personal favorite), Pelee and a few others are starting to show up. Due to the extreme low production and high cost of production, the wine is pricey. Typically in the US it is about $75 per half bottle and higher....but this is still much Cheaper than their German Cousin.

[Thomas]

Real ice wine requires exact weather conditions, so the wine--at least in Germany--isn't produced every year.