Icewine

Icewine is an intensely sweet dessert wine made from grapes that freeze naturally on the vine, most famously in Canada and Germany. Expect peach, apricot and tropical fruit with honey and citrus, balanced by brilliant acidity. Rich, concentrated and luxurious, it’s stunning with cheesecake, crème brûlée, fruit tarts, blue cheese and tropical fruit desserts.

Taste:

Sweet, concentrated and proof that freezing weather occasionally has benefits.

Icewine is typically intensely sweet and full-flavoured, with a rich, silky texture balanced by refreshing acidity. Expect peach, apricot, pineapple and mango alongside citrus, honey and marmalade.

The exact flavours depend on the grape. Riesling Icewine often brings particularly bright citrus and acidity, while Vidal can lean towards ripe tropical fruit and stone fruit.

Despite all that sugar, great Icewine should never feel simply syrupy. The acidity is what keeps everything vibrant and makes you immediately understand why people get so excited about a tiny glass of it.

Small pour. Big personality.

Food Pairings:

Icewine is brilliant with fruit-based and creamy desserts.

Try it with cheesecake, crème brûlée, peach tart, apricot tart, fruit tart, lemon tart, panna cotta or pavlova.

Tropical fruit desserts work particularly well, including those featuring pineapple, mango or passion fruit, while fresh peaches and apricots are also excellent matches.

For cheese, blue cheese is a classic pairing. Try Stilton, Roquefort or another strong blue, where the saltiness balances the wine's sweetness. Mature Cheddar can work beautifully too.

The usual dessert-wine rule applies: the wine should be at least as sweet as the dessert.

Icewine has turned up extremely prepared.

Similar Wines:

If you enjoy Icewine, Vidal is worth exploring, as it’s one of the most important grapes used for Canadian Icewine.

Riesling is another key grape and brings particularly vibrant acidity to the style.

Sauternes and Tokaji offer similarly luxurious sweet wines but achieve their concentration through noble rot rather than freezing.

Beerenauslese is another excellent option if intense sweetness balanced by fresh acidity is your thing.

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More About Icewine:

Icewine – or Eiswein in Germany – is made from grapes left hanging on the vine until temperatures fall low enough for them to freeze naturally.

The frozen grapes are harvested and pressed while still frozen. Much of the water remains behind as ice, leaving only a tiny amount of incredibly concentrated juice containing high levels of sugar, acidity and flavour.

Canada, particularly Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, has become one of the world's most famous Icewine producers, with Vidal and Riesling among the key grapes. Germany also has a long history of producing Eiswein.

The process is risky, yields are tiny and harvest can involve picking frozen grapes in the middle of a seriously cold night.

Next time someone complains about working late, spare a thought for the Icewine harvest team.