winemaker's notes:
Icewine is nectar of the gods - some of the hardest to make, most intense wine in the world.
Grapes are left on the vine well into the winter months. The resulting freezing and thawing of the grapes dehydrates the fruit, and concentrates the sugars, acids, and extracts in the berries, thereby intensifying the flavours and adding complexity to the wine made from it.
Genuine icewine must follow VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) regulations that prohibit any artificial freezing of grapes. The grapes are painstakingly picked by hand in their natural frozen state, ideally at temperatures of -10 to -13 degrees C -- sometimes the picking must be done at night to take advantage of the temperature. Yields are very low, often as little as 5-10 percent of normal.
The frozen grapes are pressed in the extreme cold. The water in the juice remains frozen as ice crystals, and only a few drops of sweet concentrated juice is obtained. This juice is then fermented very slowly for several months, stopping naturally.
The finished icewine is intensely sweet and flavorful in the initial mouth sensation. The balance is achieved by the acidity, which gives a clean, dry finish. The nose of icewine recalls lychee nuts. The wine tastes of tropical fruits, with shadings of peach nectar and mango.
Icewine is winter's gift to the wine lover: one of the best-kept secrets of the wine world that garners gold medals in virtually every competition in which it is entered.
Extremely concentrated aromas featuring candied fruits - lychee, melon and guava, enhanced with notes of raisin and vanilla. This wine bursts on your palate showcasing ripe exotic fruits followed by a coasting of tangerine and stone fruits. A long and lingering experience. When pairing an Icewine with a dessert ensure that the wine is sweeter than the dessert or enjoy Icewine as dessert. Food Pairings include: rich veined cheeses, foie gras, peach, apricot, pear, apple, nectarine and exotic fruit based desserts.
user reviews:
The top 3 most liked reviews for this wine.
A Customer - Connecticut
My wife and I go up to Toronto every year and always stop at the wineries in Niagra. Inniskillin is one of the best and most well known. Try it with some fresh berries and fruit sorbet as a dessert. If you like this wine and happen to find a Cabernet Franc Icewine (much more rare) get it, you will not be dissapointed.
A Customer - Puerto Rico
A bottle of this wonderful wine fell in my hands by pure chance as a "thank you" of a client of mine. Boy was I in for the surprise of my life!!!
Inninskilling ice wine is pefectly balanced; not too sweet, not too dry. The essence of the diferent fruits give this wine a firm robust character.
If you do not live close to Canada, send for a few bottles, it will be well worth every effort.
A Customer - Albany, NY
This is one of the best dessert wines that I have ever tried. Sweet but not sticky on the palate. Nice flavors of lycee and dried apricots. Interesting story as to how it is harvested - not a job I would like.
