Hi, "Ice Wine", from the german eiswein is indeed sweet. Inniskillin makes their Ice Wine from a couple of different grapes and in a couple of different styles. First off, they make some from vidal blanc which is not nearly as good as the ones they make from Riesling. In addition, they make three distinct styles. The standard style is their "silver label." These have no oak as is traditional for eiswein. The Riesling silver label is dreamy and to-die-for. It will go well with the foie or after dinner. The reason we pair sweet wines with foie is that a great sweet wine will have the acidity to balance the sweetness. It is the tremendous acidity of the sweet wines that make them such an ideal match for the foie. The acidity cuts through the fat. You don't percieve the acidity because of the sweetness, but it is there. If it weren't, the ice wine would taste like a melted lollipop. That being said, in the spirit of experimentation, Inniskillin makes some non-traditional ice wines. First they make a sparkling ice wine that is very rare, and if you ask me should be even rarer as they should never make that again. But hey, it was worth a try. Second, their gold label wines (more expensive) are aged in oak. Now this is just too far for the crazy oak-mania of North American wine buyers. It just messes it all up. Because this weighs down the wine and dulls it sooo much, I think if you have the gold label, I would not serve it with foie gras but wait till the end of the meal. Then I would take a few sips to be polite to your friend and ponder how oak can be too much of a good thing and have a sambucca. Eiswein should always be served very chilled and never ever at room temperature. At room temperature the acid goes all out of whack and it becomes cloying and sticky. Just one geeks opinion.
