#168 Ice Wine Countdown: Do It For Your Heirs

We reached 15 degrees on New Year's Day. We did not pick. But we are betting that we will see another 15 degrees sometime in the next few weeks.

These are Riesling grapes on Jan. 9, 2026 underneath nets to protect them against hungry wildlife. We could have picked them on Jan. 1, because the temperatures were right, but we respected the holiday, and we are betting we will see 15 degree temperatures again in the next several weeks.

We leave one acre of Riesling fruit out under nets, waiting for a 15 degree day when we can pick them for Ice Wine. At 15 degrees, the water in the berries freezes, but the pulpy part of the grape—which is liquid infused with other components that make it denser than water--does not freeze. When we press these semi-frozen grapes, the denser juice (which is still liquid) presses out; and the water, which is frozen solid, remains in the press. The resulting juice is vastly more concentrated, because the frozen water remains the press.

Normally we would get about 600 gallons of juice from an acre of Riesling grapes. The amount of Ice Wine juice will be around 200 gallons, or about one-third the normal yield. That is one of the reasons why Riesling Ice Wine is more expensive than conventional Riesling wine. The same number of grapes could have produced three times as much wine.

There were earlier picking windows in December when the temperatures hovered around 15 degrees. But we chose to wait. As the grapes stay out in the vineyard, they de-hydrate naturally with wind pressure and cycles of freezing and warming. The more concentrated the juice, the richer and more flavorful the wine.

The higher sugar content in the more concentrated juice also requires a different approach to fermentation. The process is slow and requires a yeast strain that can still metabolize at the higher sugar concentration. Not every winemaker is patient enough to nurse the Ice Wine along through fermentation. We are lucky that Dave Breeden, winemaker at Sheldrake Point Vineyards,

The sugar concentration in the juice at the beginning of fermentation is about 38 Brix (compared to around 21-22 Brix for conventional Riesling juice). If we fermented juice with that much sugar to becoming completely “dry,” the alcohol content of the wine would off the charts, that is, unpleasantly high.

Instead, we stop the fermentation when the alcohol reaches about 10 percent. That leaves the residual sugar content of the Ice Wine around 20 percent (compared to 0.5 percent or lower for Dry Rieslings.)

The higher sugar content in the finished wine is what makes the wine very stable and very “age-able.” Our Ice Wines can continue to improve for decades after bottling.

Any wine that can age for that long should be given a chance. The challenge is to prove you can be that patient. Everyone should think of collecting Ice Wine for their heirs!