Ice Wine 101: A Sweet Wine to Savor

Winemaking is not an endeavor for the faint of heart—it's dependent on the weather, it requires specialized expertise, and there are plenty of unexpected things that can go wrong. Ice wine takes all of those challenges and ratchets up the difficulty level several notches.

Icewine Glass photo credit Reif Estate Winery

What is Ice Wine?

Ice wine is a very sweet dessert wine, produced from grapes that have been left on the vine to freeze and are then harvested during the winter months. It can only be produced in very specific climates: temperate enough to grow grapes (usually cold-hardy varieties like Vidal or Riesling) but with winters cold enough to ensure a consistent stretch of below-freezing temperatures.

“According to legend, ice wine started in Germany in the 1700s with grapes accidentally left on the vines,” says Andrea Kaiser, brand manager for Reif Estate Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. “Germany was one of a few countries that made ice wines on a consistent basis. That’s really changed due to climate change—now Germany and Austria struggle to produce ice wine, and Canada has become the world’s largest ice wine producer.”

In Canada, the vast majority of ice wine production is in Ontario, specifically the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Ice wine is also produced on a smaller scale in British Columbia, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Parts of the United States are conducive to ice wine production as well, including New York’s Finger Lakes region and Midwestern states such as Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

“Here in the Midwest it’s a good match,” says Michael Harris, winemaker at Madison, Ohio’s Debonne Vineyards. “[Our climate] mimics the climate where ice wine began over in Germany.”

"icewine grapes4" by Rivard is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

How is Ice Wine Made?

The first step of ice wine production is to leave the grapes on the vines into the winter months, covered with nets to protect the fruit from birds and other wildlife. As the temperature cools, the grapes go through a dehydration process, freezing, thawing, and then refreezing. “Our ice wine harvest is anywhere from December to February,” says Kaiser. “We prefer to pick earlier, since the fruit deteriorates over time.”

In Ontario, ice wine production is regulated under the province’s Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) Act and regulations, which mandate that grapes must be naturally frozen on the vine and harvested and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature remains at or below -8°C (approximately 18°F). To ensure that the temperature doesn’t rise above the regulated minimum, grapes are typically harvested in the middle of the night. (In the United States, there isn’t a temperature requirement, but the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau mandates that ice wine must be made from grapes frozen prior to harvest.)

Larger producers such as Reif Estate Winery use mechanical methods to harvest the frozen grapes, while smaller producers like Debonne Vineyards rely on hand harvesting.

“It really doesn’t involve picking because the grapes are so frozen,” says Harris. “We shake the vines, and the grapes drop into lugs [grape harvesting containers] on the ground. A lot of the work involves actually being on your knees, shaking the grapes off, getting them off the ground...It’s a very labor-intensive process, all done by hand in cold conditions.”

Once the frozen grapes have been harvested, it’s time to laboriously press out their juices. Since most of the water in the grapes has formed ice crystals, a concentrated, high-sugar content juice remains. “If you’re using the correct process, you’re only getting one drop of juice per grape,” says Kaiser. She explains that Reif Estate Winery utilizes specialized “super high pressure” screw presses for their ice wines.“They are specifically used for ice wine and put a lot more pressure on the grapes—that’s the only way you can push out the highly concentrated juice.”

Since that juice has such a high ratio of sugar to water, fermentation is a challenge.“There’s so much sugar, we have to get highly specialized yeast,” says Kaiser.“It’s super active, it almost digs through the sugar.”

In addition to utilizing a different type of yeast, ice wine fermentation is a marathon process. At Reif Estate Winery, table wines are typically fermented for 14 days; ice wine is fermented for 8-9 months.

Allan Hyland, winemaker at Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula Winery, notes that the long fermentation period is far from hands-off—intensive monitoring is required since the grapes have had a long time to hang on the vines and pick up microorganisms that could potentially ruin the finished product.

Who Makes Ice Wine?

Some of the world’s major ice wine producers include Inniskillin, Reif Estate Winery, Peller Estates, and Pillitteri Estates Winery of Canada. Milder temperatures have made German and Austrian ice wine increasingly rare; top producers include Dr. Loosen Winery, Egon Müller Winery, and Weingut Nigl. In the United States, ice wine producers include Hunt Country Vineyards, Debonne Vineyards, and many small wineries across the Midwest.

While ice wine is traditionally made with grapes, the process can also be used to make wine from other fruits. For instance, Door Peninsula Winery produces cherry ice wine using traditional ice wine methods and cherries sourced from local growers. “It’s really intense,” says Hyland. “You get baking spice notes like nutmeg and cinnamon.”

Ice wines are typically served as dessert wines—Harris recommends pairing it with lemon bars to compliment the ice wine’s citrus notes or serving it with a bread pudding with rum raisin sauce. However, ice wine can also work with savory dishes: “Personally, I like to go with Thai food,” says Hyland. “Anything that’s bold, you can match with ice wine.”

Kaiser is also partial to savory pairings. “It’s really great with strong cheeses, even blue cheese,” she says. “If you think you don’t love ice wine or blue cheese, when you try them together you will love them both!”

Given the amount of labor and time involved, ice wine is expensive, up to $50 (and sometimes much more) for a 375-mL bottle. ”There’s no way around the high product cost,” says Kaiser. “With a lower-priced ice wine, I would be concerned it’s not a true, authentic ice wine.” For instance, it could be made with grapes frozen post-harvest.

However, consumers should keep in mind that ice wine is typically consumed in small amounts, more akin to a liqueur than table wine. In addition, it keeps well: “[Ice wine] is a really unique wine product—it can last 8-10 weeks refrigerated [after opening] since the natural sugars act as a preservative,” says Kaiser. “You don’t need to enjoy it all in one sitting.”

Despite the fact (or maybe because) production is such a risky, difficult undertaking, the resulting wine is an especially sweet reward for winemakers.

“It’s a fun thing for us in the north to be proud of,” says Hyland. “It’s something the guys in the south can’t do.”

Ice Wines to Try

Reif Estate Winery

At Reif Estate Winery, Vidal grapes are picked at -10°C (approximately 14°F) rather than the regulation minimum of -8°C (approximately 18°F). “We like the ratio of frozen water to natural sugars [at that temperature],” says brand manager Andrea Kaiser. “There’s a sweetness in front, but as you swallow, it finishes almost dry...That’s the trademark of a high-quality dessert wine: it’s not cloying, it’s balanced, it has that structure.”

Debonne Vineyards

Debonne Vineyards uses the same vines every year to produce ice wine with a consistent terrior. “We have two sites we’ve chosen that we use consistently since they produce wonderful flavors,” says winemaker Michael Harris. He also uses specific yeasts to maximize the flavor, mouthfeel, and aroma of the wines. The winery produces both Vidal Blanc and Riesling ice wines.

Winehaven Winery

Internationally-recognized Winehaven Winery relies on Minnesota’s frigid winters to produce their Slippery Slope ice wine. At $35 per bottle, it’s a relatively budget-friendly way to sample a satisfying example of the style.

Door Peninsula Winery

For a unique take on ice wine, Door Peninsula Winery’s Cherry Frost is made in the style of traditional ice wine with locally grown cherries from Wisconsin’s Door County. Winemaker Allan Hyland says the flavor is reminiscent of “red candied fruit” with “baking spice notes like nutmeg and cinnamon