Grape press: Cool As Ice

“Grape Press” is a regular magazine column in which we recommend wines to suit various occasions and price points.

Chinese New Year is one of those festivals in which wine is now a gift of choice. Ice wine has in recent years become increasingly popular, and not only for gifting purposes.

But what is ice wine? It’s a dessert wine made from grapes which, in the Northern Hemisphere, are harvested as late as December or even January. Only healthy berries are picked in conditions around -10°C. After the fruit is pressed in the winery, the frozen water is removed, leaving only a thick, concentrated nectar for fermentation. In fact, the sweetness of ice wine affects the alcohol content. Most yeasts die when the alcohol reaches a level of 5-10 percent ABV – there’s just too much sugar for the poor yeast to survive! So if you see an ice wine listed as 15 percent ABV, it can’t be the real deal.

Canada has the conditions to make ice wine every year. In Germany and Austria, winters are now only cold enough once every seven years or so. This month’s selections are all genuine ice wines.

ONE TO QUAFF
2007 Jackson-Triggs Proprietors’ Reserve Vidal Ice Wine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
(RMB 794, ASC)
Available at Prego, Senses
Vidal is a hardy grape variety well suited to the Canadian cold. Deep gold in color, this wine has honeyed peach fruit, very high sugar, supporting acidity and lovely length.

ONE TO SIP
2004 Markus Molitor Brauneberger Mandel Riesling Eiswein, Mosel, Germany
(RMB 812, Wine Culture)
Available at Capital M, China Grill
A great German producer, and from the classic Riesling grape. Deep gold, the wine has honeyed apple fruit with raisin aromas. Intensely sweet with lifting acidity and stunning length.

ONE TO SAVOR
2004 Von Othegraven Riesling Kanzem Altenberg Erste Lage Eiswein, Saar, Germany
(RMB 1,999, Globus)
Available at Maison Boulud
Another great German producer. This wine is deep gold with wonderful candied citrus and honeyed apple fruit. Rich in sugar but perfectly balanced with high acidity and remarkable length.

Edward Ragg is co-founder, with Fongyee Walker, of Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting, China’s leading independent wine consultancy and education service (www.longfengwines.com). They write for the world’s wine magazines and several publications in China.

Click here to see the January issue of the Beijinger in full.