Frigid temperatures creating ideal conditions for Niagara ice wine harvest

With the milder winter experienced thus far, the return to frigid temperatures is welcomed news for grape growers in Niagara who say it could make for ideal conditions for ice wine.

The grapes on the vineyard at Inniskillin Estate Winery will soon be harvested to make ice wine after waiting for the right temperature to hit.

“It is a little bit more mild than typically that we would see weather wise at this time of year, but to harvest ice wine grapes, it’s usually early to mid January so we are right on track-to harvest at that time, in fact we have a little bit a of a cold snap coming up,” says Andrea Stromski of the winery.

Grapes used to make ice wine are typically picked when the overnight temperature drops to minus eight.

Inniskillin waits until it hits minus 10 to harvest their grapes and they say though that is fast approaching this year, others they’ve waited until early March due to warmer conditions.

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“We’ve never had a year yet here in Canada where we haven’t reached those temperatures, so I think we are a long way away from losing our cold experience.”

Harvesting the grapes while frozen makes for a sweeter wine.

“When it’s frozen and you takes those grapes and you try to press them, you can’t press frozen water, because that’s just ice, so we have these little ice crystals in the grapes and they compress and the only thing you is about a drop or two of pure juice-not the water portion of the grape.”

Grapes harvested this year will be ready for consumption in next year’s ice wines.

Niagara’s ice wine festival also kicked off this weekend and runs until the end of the month for anyone looking to get a taste of the wines created in the region.

Full details on festival events can be found on their website.

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