Ice Wine

[porkpa]

I recently received a gift of three bottles of Innskillen Ice Wine. I realize this is usually considered to be a dessert wine. Would it also be appropriate to serve it with a foie gras appetizer? Also, what would be the optimum temperature at which ice wine should be served? TIA.

[Marlene]

It probably depends on what you plan for the rest of the meal. If you are serving sweeter wines with dinner, it should be ok. Or if you are just having appetizers. Ice wine is generally very sweet, so to go from that to say a dry red may not be the best. Having said that, I am no wine expert!

I do know that ice wine should be served very well chilled.

[Jason Perlow]

It can be served chilled or at room temperature and it is definitely served with desserts.

It might be a bit sweet for the foie gras... although I've heard of people having foie with sauternes or saussignac so maybe. Inniskillin is a bit sweeter than your typical Sauternes though.

[robert brown]

Porkpa, I also like it with an Alsatian or German Munster cheese. Then you can have it late in the meal. Having a sweet wine at the start of a meal doesn't bother me a bit. Having it with foie gras should be nice. The problem in New York is finding decent foie gras and a ripe, "a point" piece of Munster. It can happen, however.

[Francis]

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.

[La Niña]

Yes, very well chilled. Never at room temperature. Same with Sauternes, Mombazillac, sweet Jurancon, sweet Rielings, etc., etc.

[anil]

On a recent trip, while awaiting our connecting flight; I was browsing in the Duty Free Shop and found an "ice wine" from Cancda - Very elegant bottle.

Since I had next to no clue, I passed the opportunity to get one for a really good price.

Do these wines need to be chilled at a lower temperature than normal white wines ?

[jackal10]

Ice wine is made from frozen grapes, which concentrates the juice.

Doesn't mean that it needs to be served frozen.

Personally I think it would be lovely with Foie Gras, slightly chilled, and also made into an aspic.

[tammylc]

I pick up a bottle or two of Canadian ice wine every time I pass through the duty free (few times a year).

We generally just drink it on its own, as dessert.

While Iniskillin has the best reputation, I was underwhelmed by their Vidal Ice Wine. The Vidal from Reif blew me away, though. The finish lasted for a full five minutes, and it had an excellent balance of sweetness and acidity.

[Sam Salmon]

Ice wine is made from frozen grapes, which concentrates the juice.

It's important to note that Ice Wine is made from Grapes frozen on the vine.

Freezing grapes in an industrial freezer and then crushing them to be made into wine isn't Ice Wine (we see this from some California producers or did in the past).

I drink it as dessert generally-chilled but not overly so.

[NatDecants]

Hi folks,

This is my first post so forgive me if I make a few mistakes (just give me an e-whomp). I live in Ontario and have participated in the icewine harvest... for 10 minutes at a time, I'm such a whimp. (I've written about my experience but I don't want to post a link in case that's bad manners. Maybe Jason can let me know.)

Anyway, I find that the rielsing-based icewines are generally superior to vidal-based because they have some acidity which balances their sweetness and goes well with salty foods like foie gras. But I agree with Tammy that Rief makes an excellent vidal version.

There's an icewine festival with winery tours and events that takes place every January in Niagara... worth attending if you can take the cold (then again, why worry, because the icewine will keep you warm).

Cheers,

Nat

[Suzanne F]

Welcome, Nat!

I see no reason to whomp you, except maybe because you DIDN'T post a link to your writeup (it's not selling anything, is it?).

[NatDecants]

no not selling anything, my site is free -- I post my articles there but I probably should get Jason's blessing first (or whomever is the moderator) Nat

[nanuq]

We have a bunch of ice wine waiting to be consumed. If you have the chance to pick up any from Royal de Maria, do it! They have won lots of international awards, and the wines are great - gewurtz ice wine is very interesting, sweet and spicy. And Merlot...

Nice people too.

Nat, look forward to your link. I read the harvest was done in BC a few weeks ago, and southern Ontario may be cold enough to harvest this week, if they haven't yet

[Pan]

no not selling anything, my site is free -- I post my articles there but I probably should get Jason's blessing first (or whomever is the moderator) Nat

Don't worry, Nat; everyone is permitted to include their web site in their sig(nature) if they want to. And you are certainly free to post it in this thread, where it's relevant.

[NatDecants]

OK guys, here's my article... I hope it adds some info to the discussion... it certainly is seasonal -- we have -40 degree Celcius weather here this evening :)

http://www.nataliemaclean.com/articles/icewine.html

Cheers,

Nat

[Jason Perlow]

Natalie -- great to have you on the site at last.

Natalie won the James Beard Journalism Award for Internet Writing in 2003, besting our own Steven Shaw in that category last year.

[nanuq]

Great website, I'm still reading, and you have a lot to offer, so I look forward to your posts!

[Jason Perlow]

Hi folks,

This is my first post so forgive me if I make a few mistakes (just give me an e-whomp). I live in Ontario and have participated in the icewine harvest... for 10 minutes at a time, I'm such a whimp. (I've written about my experience but I don't want to post a link in case that's bad manners. Maybe Jason can let me know.)

Anyway, I find that the rielsing-based icewines are generally superior to vidal-based because they have some acidity which balances their sweetness and goes well with salty foods like foie gras. But I agree with Tammy that Rief makes an excellent vidal version.

There's an icewine festival with winery tours and events that takes place every January in Niagara... worth attending if you can take the cold (then again, why worry, because the icewine will keep you warm).

Cheers,

Nat

Nat, when I was in Ottawa two years ago, I had a few really good Canadian Rieslings. I think Canadian wines are totally underrated -- but we have problems finding them here, with the exception of stuff like Inniskillin that are heavily marketed.

[NatDecants]

Yes Jason, we make some spectacular wines, and both riesling and pinot noir are our dry style specialties. There are so many amazing small cult wineries that have opened up, and not only are they producing fantastic wines, but they're reasonably priced (and downright cheap when you consider the exchange on the dollar).

But you're right, it's difficult to get them... most folks drive across the boarder and load up. I have links to listings of Canadian wineries on my site as well as a recent article about the small cult wines and planning a weekend getaway in Niagara, which itself is beautiful apart from the wineries (http://www.nataliemaclean.com/articles/niagara.html). If I were living in the US, I'd make a family trip of it: great restaurants, wineries and lots of fun stuff like Niagara Falls not far away, hot air ballooning etc. Nat

[tammylc]

A Niagara wine expedition is in my future, that's for sure!

And lest anyone worry about bringing all that wine back across the border...

While you are limited to two 750 mL bottles *duty-free*, you can bring back as many as you like. And duty (if they even bother to make you pay it) is a mere 35 cents a bottle for wine (other alcohols will vary, and this is not the case for Canadian citizens re-entering Canada from the US). Or at least, that's what I was told on a recent trip.

[Jeffy Boy]

It's great to see a discussion on Canadian wines! As a former Ontario resident, now living in BC, I must put in my plug for our Okanagan wine region. Niagara and Okanagan enjoy a great rivalry, have pushed each other to produce better and better wines, and each have their devoted following.

Although Niagara, and particularly Iniskillin is likely the best-known Canadian ice wine, at the 2003 Canadian Wine Awards "Best Ice Wine, varietal" was won Jackson-Triggs Okanagan 2001 Proprietors' Grand Reserve Riesling Icewine, scoring 92 points. "Best Ice Wine, vidal" was indeed won by Iniskillin, but Iniskillin Okanagan!

Mark your calendars: 2003 should prove to be an awesome year for BC ice wines. There was an early freeze (November), and the quality of grapes on the vine at the time were superb!

[Jason Perlow]

A Niagara wine expedition is in my future, that's for sure!

And lest anyone worry about bringing all that wine back across the border...

While you are limited to two 750 mL bottles *duty-free*, you can bring back as many as you like. And duty (if they even bother to make you pay it) is a mere 35 cents a bottle for wine (other alcohols will vary, and this is not the case for Canadian citizens re-entering Canada from the US). Or at least, that's what I was told on a recent trip.

Well, when I went to Ottawa 2 years ago I brought back 2 cases of wine and liquor from LCBO, and they didn't make me pay a dime. They didn't even bother to look and see what was in there, and this was post 9/11!

[Marlene]

It's great to see a discussion on Canadian wines! As a former Ontario resident, now living in BC, I must put in my plug for our Okanagan wine region. Niagara and Okanagan enjoy a great rivalry, have pushed each other to produce better and better wines, and each have their devoted following.

Although Niagara, and particularly Iniskillin is likely the best-known Canadian ice wine, at the 2003 Canadian Wine Awards "Best Ice Wine, varietal" was won Jackson-Triggs Okanagan 2001 Proprietors' Grand Reserve Riesling Icewine, scoring 92 points. "Best Ice Wine, vidal" was indeed won by Iniskillin, but Iniskillin Okanagan!

Mark your calendars: 2003 should prove to be an awesome year for BC ice wines. There was an early freeze (November), and the quality of grapes on the vine at the time were superb!

Oh yes, the Oakanagan Valley wines are lovely! We had a late freeze here in Ontario, but deep, so the quality should be marvellous, but there will be less quantity this year from Ontario Ice Wines. Kittling Ridge also makes a nice Ice Wine

[clifford]

It was great to see the link to NatDecants web page, and all of the positive talk about wineries on the Niagara escarpment. About three years ago, a friend of mine who is a fairly serious collector suggested we head up to Niagara for a hedonistic wine weekend.

Although I was puzzled why he wanted to go to Niagara, I am always up for a good wine bender and readily agreed.

My wife and I met the couple at the airport and were astounded at the volume of luggage they had brought. Several skycaps were furiously tagging what appeared to be 10 steamer trunks. I asked Dave if his wife was anticipating difficult couture decisions, and he replied that all of these were empty. "They won't be when we come back!," he laughed.

So off to Buffalo we went, where we rented two Suburban's (Me: "I think we just need a sedan", Dave: "What the hell are you gonna haul your wine in?", Me: "I guess we need a Suburban? )

Off we went. To make a long, hedonistic story short, I still rave to all of my wine friends how they simply must go to Niagara! Sure Inniskillen has international noteriety, but it's the wines you drink in peoples kitchens and garages that are truly spectacular. Everyone is so hospitable and accomodating, and the wines are generally good to extraordinary. And the QPR, even at Inniskillen, was excellent.

I was pleasantly surprised by all of the restaurants we dined in. Actually, amazed might be a better word. Refined food, elegant, often simple settings.

When it was time to cross the border, Dave and his wife had 15 cases of wine, and we had 7. Now, I was pretty nervous, as I new that you could only bring back two BOTTLES, and we had, between us, over 500.

Dave was, again, nonplussed. He said the worst case scenario was that we would have to pay a slight tariff (I believe $.35), but that "the paperwork is such a colossal pain in the ass the border patrol will just wave you through." Apparently, you would have to itemize EACH BOTTLE, so it's better to take more across the border than a little less.

Dave went through customs first, and the border guard spent about one minute talking to him. The guard went to the back of the Suburban, opened the back door, and inspected one of the now full steamer trunks. One minute later Dave was back in the states, and we pulled up.

I gave the guard my driver's license, and he asked "I guess the purpose of your visit was to buy ton's of wine?"

"Yes sir," I replied.

"How much you got?" he inquired.

"A little more than seven cases...." I fearfully stammered.

He just shook his head, handed me back my wallet, and waved me through.

That summer, Henry of Pelham Baco Noir was my everyday drinking wine, and my only regret is I haven't made the time to go back again.