Winemaker Notes
WINEMAKING The opportunity to make ice wine seldom presents itself this early in the season, but this was actually our second ‘witches freeze' in as many years – in 2002 the Semillon also froze on Halloween night. Picked and pressed frozen, the grapes grudgingly yielded a rich, concentrated juice that we fermented both in tank and in new barrels.
WINE DESCRIPTION Our 2003 Semillon Ice Wine shows intense aromas of pineapple, citrus and vanilla that are balanced by a bracing acidity. The wine has a long, lingering finish.
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS Our Covey Run Semillon Ice Wine is a complete dessert by itself. It also lends itself to pairing with other desserts, preferably those less sweet than the wine. Try crème brulee, bread pudding with apricots, cream-based pastries or fresh fruit. Also enjoy this wine with a sampling of rich, creamy cheeses such as Roquefort or Stilton.
Apart from the classics, we find many regional gems of different styles.
Late harvest wines are probably the easiest to understand. Grapes are picked so late that the sugars build up and residual sugar remains after the fermentation process. Ice wine, a style founded in Germany and there referred to as eiswein, is an extreme late harvest wine, produced from grapes frozen on the vine, and pressed while still frozen, resulting in a higher concentration of sugar. It is becoming a specialty of Canada as well, where it takes on the English name of ice wine.
Vin Santo, literally “holy wine,” is a Tuscan sweet wine made from drying the local white grapes Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia in the winery and not pressing until somewhere between November and March.
Rutherglen is an historic wine region in northeast Victoria, Australia, famous for its fortified Topaque and Muscat with complex tawny characteristics.
As the first recognized wine-growing region in the Pacific Northwest, Yakima Valley is centrally located within Washington’s vast Columbia Valley. The region also includes Washington’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Otis Vineyard, planted in 1957, and Harrison Hill Vineyard, planted in 1963. Yakima Valley contains three smaller sub-regions: Rattlesnake Hills, Red Mountain, and Snipes Mountain and is ideal for both red and white wine production. In fact, Yakima Valley is Washington’s most diverse region, boasting more than 40 different grape varieties over about one hundred miles.
The cooler parts of the valley are home to almost half of the Chardonnay and Riesling produced in the state! Both are made in a wide range of styles depending on the conditions of the vineyard site.
But its warmer locations yield a large proportion of Washington’s best Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The finest Yakima Valley reds are jam-packed full of red cherry, currant, raspberry or blackberry fruit, as well as cocoa, herb, spice and savory notes, and exhibit a supple texture, great body, focus and length.