Aug 30 2008
Ice Wine of the Finger Lakes
The term Ice Wine refers to a special type of desert wine that is made after selected grapes have been allowed to ripen fully and then to freeze on the vine. The sugars are concentrated and some rich flavors and tastes abound in the Ice Wine of the Finger Lakes.
From another Internet resource: “Ice wine (or icewine, as one word, or in German, Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine.
The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet wine.
With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards. Unlike the grapes from which other dessert wines, such as Sauternes, Tokaji, or Trockenbeerenauslese, are made, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea or noble rot, at least not to any great degree.
Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity arises for an ice wine harvest, which in extreme cases can occur after the New Year, on a northern hemisphere calendar. This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high acidity. When the grapes are free of Botrytis, they are said to come in “clean”.
Due to the labour-intense and risky production process resulting in relatively small amounts of wine, ice wines are generally quite expensive. ”
(source: wikipedia)
Please Pass the Salt Potatoes- Ice Wine in the Finger Lakes – The best bloopers are a click away
