What is ice wine?
Ice wine (or Eiswein in Germany ) is a term referring to a rich, sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have been picked frozen on the vine and pressed before they thaw. Since a lot of the water present in the grapes is frozen and stays in the press, the resulting juice is very concentrated, yielding high sugars and acids. The wine made from this juice is very concentrated and flavorful, the high level of sweetness balanced out by the high acidity. Ice wine is typically very expensive because of the low yields that occur from pressing frozen grapes. Temperatures of 18 degrees Fahrenheit are needed to freeze the grapes on the vine, which should explain why we, at Manatawny Creek Winery, do not make it – we are a bit too far south to get these temperatures on a consistent basis.
