#118 We Bring in the Ice Wine Grapes

A month ago, we decided to wait. Good thing we did.

Perry Hicks, Associate Winemaker at Sheldrake Point, who is part of the team that makes our Riesling Ice Wine, is raking our fruit into the conveyor leading to the press. We picked the fruit in this past week on Wednesday and Thursday under challenging conditions.

An important decision in the life of any wine is when you decide to pick the grapes. During the normal season, you hope to pick the grapes at the optimal level of ripeness.

With Riesling Ice Wine, the calculation is a little different. We are looking for the optimal level of de-hydration and a stretch of cold weather around 15 degrees F.

Back in December, we had a stretch of 15 degrees, but we did not feel that we had sufficient de-hydration. Nor were the grapes sufficiently “browned.” That “browning” gives the ice wine a distinctive caramel character which is a critical flavor component.

This video is a little “grainy”, but the specks that you are seeing blowing sideways are snowflakes.

Once we are into January, we expect a stretch of 15 degree weather. Once you see 15 degrees predicted, even if the forecast includes wind whipping at 20 miles per hour, you still plan to pick. You may not see 15 degrees again.

We had that whipping wind this past week, and we had 15 degrees. These are the conditions that make picking ice wine grapes unforgettable

We start by opening the nets that have protected the grapes from the deer. More than half the clusters at this late stage fall onto the ground. That means we spend more than half our time on our hands and knees picking clusters off the ground.

Back in October the fruit we harvested was in ideal condition. That bode well for the quality of our wines in general for the 2024 vintage. It was also a good sign for the quality of this vintage of Riesling Ice Wine. As always, the credit for getting the grapes to this state of the process goes to the vineyard team of Kees, John and Jesse.

When we arrive with the grapes at the press deck, they are semi-frozen and will take three days to press completely. Even when fully-pressed, they will yield less than half the normal volume of juice from the same number of grapes. (Thus the higher price.)

Some of that loss is due to de-hydration, and the rest is due to water molecules in the juice being locked up in the flesh as ice. Thus the name, “ice wine.”

Our finished Ice Wine will be available in July. There is really nothing else like it. And, in the bottle, it will age for 100 years, long after anyone remembers this cold day with the high winds.