The Making of Ice Red Wines
Ice red wines are simply dessert type of red wine made from grapes that are left to freeze on their vines.
This
type of red wine is risky and labor intensive to make as the timing of
grape harvesting is crucial. Very commonly produced in Germany where
they are called Eiswein and Canada called Icewine
the grapes have to be left hanging on the vines to freeze, with fear
that it may not get cold enough before the grapes rot or are attacked
and eaten by birds.
When the grapes reach the freezing
point around 17 or 18 degrees Farenheit they are harvested at night to
make sure they reach the wineries before the grapes defrost.
When
the red grapes freeze, the water inside freezes as well leaving a very
sweet concentrated sugar syrup. The red grapes are pressed while still
frozen resulting in a very sweet concentrated
dessert red wine.
Red Wine Grapes Used To Make Ice Red Wine:
At the present time the only red wine grape that is traditionally used in the production of this type of wine is the Cabernet Franc.
Many New World vintners are experimenting with other red grape varieties such as
Merlot,
Pinot Noir
and even
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Because of the lower yield and the difficulty in production they
are traditionally much more expensive red wine. The labor involved in
harvesting these grapes, often in the late evenings, and the care in
actually handling the grapes carefully to produce the sweetest product
command a much higher price in the final product. They are often sold in
half bottles and can easily cost between $75.00-200.00 per half bottle
Port wines and Late Harvest Wines are considered by many to be the best sweet wine and are also referred to as:
dessert red wines.
Remember when serving these wines they are to be served with sweet
foods. The wine should be at least as sweet as the food served.
Also visit our other pages to learn more about dessert red wines or for a
list of sweet red wines.
