Ice Wine and Wine Over Ice

Ice is popular – E & J Gallo, Stormhoeck and Piper Heidsieck have all created wines and champagnes that you can drink on the rocks. The success of the cider over ice campaigns have a lot to answer for. Last summer Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and the Co-op stocked Frozé - a South African rosé that has been designed specifically to be serve chilled over ice. The wine has very concentrated fruity flavours which mean that when ice is added the flavour is not diluted. Now Rosemount Estate have announced the launch of their newest product - Rosemount O - a lower in alcohol, slightly sparkling, dry white wine designed to be served over ice. With it comes a $3.5m advertising campaign.

Do we need super concentrated wines to drink over ice? Don't get me wrong, a dry fino sherry over ice makes a refreshing aperitif – and ice cold dessert wine is delicious on a hot summers day. Talking of which - did you know that Spain is producing its own Ice Wine? Ten years ago the Gramona family in Catalonia opted to make the first Spanish ice wines - Gramona Gewürztraminer, Riesling-Muscat and Gewürztraminer Crianza. The venture was the idea of Jaume Gramona who was inspired by the techniques used to make German Eiswein. Now, DO Penedés, the appellation the bodega is registered under, has decided to regulate the wines by naming them “vino dulce de frío” (cold sweet wine).

The Spanish Ice Wine has to be made differently as lack of frost in the Catalonian vineyards is a problem. Traditionally Ice Wine in Germany and Canada is made by freezing the grapes in the vineyard, then crushing while still cold and fermenting at low temperatures. The Gramonas discovered that after various tests, the only possible way to achieve the higher concentration of must after a late harvest was by partially freezing the grapes, using techniques known as “supraextracción” and “crioextracción” that take place in cold storage.

DO Penedés has decided to endorse this type of wine as long as it is made from Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Malvasía de Sitges, small grain Moscatel, Moscatel de Alejandría, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot, or the experimental varieties determined by the Regulating Council.

Ice wine was discovered accidentally in the 1700's in Germany. Currently Canada is the largest producer of Ice Wine but this may change as a small town in north eastern China is also producing this rare, rich ambrosia. Huanren, a picturesque, mountainous county in Liaoning province, is currently building the largest ice wine estate in the world.

Due to the environmental conditions needed to grow the grapes for Ice Wine, there are only a few countries which are able to produce the luxury product – as a result, supply falls far short of current demand.

As you can imagine this offers quite an impetus if you can produce it and countries such as Israel, Australia and New Zealand are also starting to make Ice Wine. However you don't have to look so far afield - Ice Wines (vins de glace) are also made in Alsace – where they are less common but most of the major wine makers produce them from time to time. The riesling is the favoured grape, but Ice Wines are also made from gewurztraminer and pinot gris grapes.

I wonder what Ice Wine tastes like over ice? Now there's a thought . . .

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