Have you heard about Canada’s ice wine? This article says about that.
Niagara region in Canada is well know for its frosty winter and good quality ice wine as well. They produce a very intensely sweet wine. While other countries also produce wine, Canada has become world’s best and largest producer, garnering high awards at several international wine competitions.
Do you know how to get a sweet ice wine? The secret is a frozen grape.
The sweetness is due to the concentration of sugars within the grapes.
It was in 1979, German. One vintner pressed a juice from frozen grapes after an ice storm. The grape yielded a remarkably sweet wine, high concentration of sugar.
Grapes are 80% of water. Water freeze at a more higher temperature than the sugars. Which means when it gets cold, the water is trapped as ice. So when you pressed the frozen grapes, you can get juice that has a high concentration of sugars.
One wine columnist put it, ‘miraculously sweet’ .
In order to produce the good ice wines, you have to be very sensitive to temperature. There are some necessary condition. The temperature must be below minus seven degrees for several days. but if it gets too cold, the hard grape yield very little. It’s very tricky. It has to be just right.
Do you know how much wine can you get in one kilogram of normal grape?
They ill generally yield one 750-milliter bottle of wine. It depends on winter sunshine. In some cases, they yield just one fifth of a bottle or even less. That’s why ice wine can be quite expensive and it is often sold in half-bottles.
The popularity of ice wine is not limited to Canada. It was exported to many countries, especially to East Asia. Ice wine has been embraced as a sweet alternative to cognac.
Interestingly, some wine lovers have volunteered to participate in the harvest with no pay. Their wage are just a half of bottle of ‘liquid gold’.
November 10, 2008
November 9, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)