Early ice wine harvest

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Thanks to a sudden cold snap, grape growers in Niagara got an early start to the ice wine harvest. Some are picking months earlier than last year.

“We need -8 to start, but we like to pick around -10, 11, 12. We were -13 last night so we got really good sugars.” Jason Dutchyn, D & S Vineyards

Icewine is made from grapes that have been left on the vine to freeze naturally. Sometimes called a dessert wine, it’s known for its rich sweet flavour and often served with blue cheese and foie gras. Once picked, the frozen grapes are pressed leaving a sweet concentrated juice.

“We are expecting out of a metric tonne about 750 litres in the fresh season so that is sort of the rule of thumb. When you press ice wine you get about 150 to 200 litres out.” Thomas Oppenlander, Huebel Grapes Estates.

The average bottle of icewine can range from $30 to $70. China is the biggest importer of Canadian icewine buying over $6 million worth last year.

Grape growers plan to work around the clock while mother nature is still on their side.