The Delicious (and Rare) Icewine
Icewine is an extremely delicate, flavourful and rare type of desert homemade wine that is only grown properly in a few parts of the world. Icewine is made with grapes that have been naturally frozen on the vine, are pressed frozen and then kept chilled throughout the fermentation process. The result is a sweet wine that has gained the concentration of flavour through the freezing process rather than through heat. Icewine is the most difficult of all homemade wines to make and only the most expert of wine makers and grape growers will be able to pull it off and only then if they live in the right parts of the world. Icewine is expensive, but well worth trying at least once.
Icewine is made by harvesting frozen grapes and processing them while they are still frozen, so the processing must be done in a freezing room. The liquid made out of the grapes is higher in sugars and acidity and is fermented in a cooling unit. Only the fermenting process can have artificial freezing; traditionally, the grapes must be picked and processed while still frozen. All of the sugars in the wine must specifically come from the grapes with nothing added. The wine is then left to age in a chilled area and is best served chilled.
Icewine is grown in two major parts of the world. The homeland of icewine is Germany where legend says it was made by accident in the 18th century. A grape grower left his harvest and it froze. When he returned, he processed the grapes anyway and came out with the delicate desert homemade wine. Up until the 1960s or so, the recipes were kept a closely guarded secret, but the recipe slowly leaked out until more growers were trying to replicate it.
The other part of the world where icewine is now produced in large quantities is in the Okanagan in British Columbia. This is because the soil and temperatures are right for growing the grapes and then the area gets cold enough to freeze the grapes for icewine. British Columbia is now a leader in icewine production in the world and produces many of the finest desert wines in the world.
Be very careful if you are purchasing icewine that you get the real stuff; it will be labelled as such by Vintners Quality Alliance and it should be expensive. If you want to make homemade icewine, keep in mind that it has be done precisely to standards in order to be considered legitimate and you should have a great deal in homemade wine expertise before attempting it. Regardless of whether you decide to buy it or make it, icewine is well worth trying at least once in your life.
Making homemade wine is a great hobby and really fun; if you want to learn how to make homemade wine, then check out our informative and interesting website on making your own wine at http://wwww.secretsofwinemaking.com.
