Icewine???

[ls1216]

A while ago I had dinner at a rest. called StarCanyon in Dallas. I was ordered a glass of wine and it was the best I have ever had. It was very sweet, very expensive by the glass. I had thought I was told it was called Icy Vine. Now looking on here I see there is something called Ice Wine. So I am assuming that's what I had that night. Can't you tell I'm new at this. lol So I am interested in finding what I had or wanting some opinions on some good Ice Wines to try. Any suggestions???
P.S. What's the difference between an Ice Wine and a Desert Wine?
Dallas-

[Thomas]

Dallas,

An ice wine is a dessert wine, just one that is produced in a particular way.

In brief: in certain years, when certain weather conditions exist, grapes are allowed to stay on the vine until frost settles on the already dried up grapes to encase them in ice. They are handpicked--extremely carefully and at a proscribed outdoor temperature--and then processed into what becomes an intensely sweet wine.

Because of their low juice to grape ratio, and the extreme labor involved, ice wines are not cheap. And because of the weather restrictions placed on their production, they are generally not produced every year.

As to which ice wines to recommend--I'll leave that to someone else.

[winoweenie]

Hi Dallas and welcome to the board. Most of the great Ice Wines of the world are made in Germany (Eisweins). You can almost pick them blindfolded as they are superb almost across the board. As Foodie said they are extremely cost intensive to produce and very expensive. Find a good retailor and they can help you. WW

[Kcwhippet]

There are also some very nice Ice Wines (as opposed to Eiswein) produced mainly on the Niagara Peninsula in Canada. Some nice examples come from Jackson & Triggs and Inniskilin.

[winoweenie]

KCs' rite about the Canadian wines but seeing you were Texas I thot you'd have better luck finding the Germans. WW

[wondersofwine]

You might also look for Bonny Doone Vin de Glacier Muscat from California (loosely translates to wine of ice from the Muscat grape). I believe they produce the wine by first freezing the grapes, not by picking them frozen from the vines, but it is a tasty dessert wine and could possibly be what you had at the restaurant. It will be much less expensive that a German Eiswein or Canadian Ice Wine. Also, ice wines are often sold by the half bottle (375 ml) so that reduces the cost somewhat but also reduces how many glasses of wine you will be able to pour from the bottle.

[Innkeeper]

If the Supreme Court does what it should do, you should then be able to get some nice Ice Wine from the Finger Lakes Region. Wagner, for example, sells three Ice Wines from different grapes that are hard to choose from. These sell for just a little more than the Bonny Doon that WOW rcommended, and that I concur in the recommendation for.

[TheEngineer]

I have found plenty of wine stores that can get this in the US. They also sell it on the net (I've not checked this site in particular).

Unfortunately, you are tied to the major wineries which are Inniskillin and Chateau des Charmes most often but they make a wonderful wine. More famous in the local Niagara area are Magiotta and Cave Spring, the former making nothing but ice wines. I personnally like Canadian Ice Wines better than the eiswines but prefer German Rieslings to Canadian Rieslings. Intense an experience it is.

oh yeah, typical bottle size is 375ml (1/2 bottle) or 200 ml and expect to pay anywhere between $30 to $75 for this size.

[This message has been edited by TheEngineer (edited 12-22-2004).]

[chittychattykathy]

Hi TheEngineer! Welcome to the board! Can I please ask you what part of the world you live in?
Kat

[TheEngineer]

Hi! Thanks for the warm welcome. I currently live in MA but have lived in many places on this continent.

[Thomas]

Engineer,

Cave Springs does produce good ice wine, but I think they produce other wines too. Oops, I misread you--you accurately said "former." Cancel my correction and welcome aboard the board...

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 12-23-2004).]

[Kcwhippet]

Welcome to the Wine Board, Engineer. What part of MA are you in?

[TheEngineer]

I am living in a suburb of Boston called Wellesley (about 20 miles out)..... the better marker perhaps is that I live near Lower Falls Wine Company. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

I've spent the better part of the last few days reviewing all of your post. I've been on many forums and I just wanted to say that this is a great forum for information, zero pretention and a great bunch of longtimers. I'm going to enjoy reading your posts looking forward and please forgive in advance my newbie status and novice understanding.

[Thomas]

Engineer,

You use the magic word "pretension."

Many on this board have either been wine consumers or in the wine business for quite some time. We know that, while there is a conception in America that wine is something special and lofty, the product is rooted in food and culture (with a little religion thrown in for good measure).

With that kind of background, wine is far from anything lofty--only those who believe otherwise would suffer from pretension.

If I had my way...nah, we'll get into all that as you linger on the board...