Wine Arcana

Style

Icewine

Also known as Ice wine, Eiswein, Vin de glace

Icewine is a sweet wine made by pressing grapes that have frozen on the vine. Much of their water remains in the press as ice, leaving a small volume of concentrated juice to ferment. The resulting wine combines substantial grape sugar with concentrated acidity.

Germany's Eiswein and Canadian icewine share this principle. Canada's national standard reserves the name for wine made exclusively from grapes naturally frozen on the vine; Canadian production also requires verification by a provincially authorised body.1. Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian Standards of Identity: Volume 8 – Icewine, section 1, incorporated by reference in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations; accessed 9 September 2026. Artificially freezing harvested fruit falls outside that definition.

Waiting for the freeze

Growers leave selected grapes hanging beyond the main harvest and protect them from birds. The wait exposes the fruit to rain, rot, and losses before a sufficiently hard freeze arrives. Harvesting and pressing must then proceed while the berries remain frozen. Mild weather can defeat the attempt after months of waiting.

Healthy fruit is especially valuable because it preserves a clear expression of the grape through concentration. In botrytized sweet wine, fungal activity changes the berry's composition as water evaporates. Icewine's defining concentration occurs when pressing separates liquid juice from ice.

Fermentation and character

The concentrated juice is difficult for yeast to ferment and leaves substantial residual sugar. German examples often combine this sweetness with modest alcohol. Their acidity can keep the finish lively even when the texture is viscous. Grape variety, fruit condition, and the amount of sugar fermented all affect the finished balance.

Riesling is an established grape for German Eiswein. Ontario also has a substantial tradition built around the hybrid Vidal, which the provincial appellation authority identifies as its characteristic icewine grape.

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