All About Ice Wine: Very Rare and Very Expensive

Have you ever heard of "Eiswein?" It's a German word for "Ice wine." Some of you wine drinkers out there probably know all about ice wine but for you all that have never heard of it before, it might be something you would like to try but be warned; ice wine is rare, very expensive and comes in very small bottles. The price range is probably out of the average persons limit.

Exactly what is ice wine? It's when the grapes are picked off the vine while they are frozen and processed before they're thawed out. The frozen water, concentrated sugars and acid are squeezed out of the grape. The end result is a sweet, fruity desert wine.

Ice wine was first produced in Germany in 1794. It came about when an owner of a German vineyard should have been home harvesting his grapes but he was out of town. When he came home he decided to harvest and process the grapes anyway. So by accident ice wine was discovered but it was originally called "winter wine." This was to remain a secret of Germany's until 1962 when it went commercial through out Europe.

The grapes have to be naturally frozen, full size and the outside temperature has to be 5degrees C. for several days. The grapes have to be frozen solid and are picked by hand in the very early morning hours. No other method of freezing grapes can be used. So you can't place your grapes in the freezer to make your self a bottle of ice wine. This is what makes this wine very rare and very expensive.

After the grapes are picked, they are softly pressed immediately and the highly concentrated sugars and acids plus the water, which are bits of ice, is what is fermented and placed in oak barrels for several months. After the fermentation, this is what you have a sweet, fruity dessert wine, "ice wine."

So as you can see, ice wine can only be produced if Mother Nature allows it; the weather plays a big part in whether ice wine is made or not. The weather has to stay cold enough and long enough in order for the grapes to freeze. This is why ice wine is very expensive.

There are only a number of places in the world that can produce ice wine. The weather in the United States is so unpredictable that many grapes are ruined trying to make ice-wine. When Mother Nature does cooperate, ice wine is made in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Canada, British Columbia, Germany and Austria are also known for producing ice wine and are considered the best in the world; this is because of their climate, which is consistent during the winter months.

Trying to actually find a bottle of ice wine can be a challenge to almost impossible. Don't just run down to you local alcoholic and wine stores. You will never find this type of wine on their shelves. A bottle of ice wine would never ever be allowed to set on one of their shelves. You can try to find it on the Internet but this also is a challenge to almost impossible, unless you just get lucky and your timing is just right.

You might consider hunting for a wine maker that is located in the Pacific Northwest or go as far as trying to locate wine makers in Canada, British Columbia, Germany or Austria. This might take some time because once ice wine is process and bottled it goes very fast. If you are lucky to live in one of these places you might be able to find a wine maker that has it on tap. If you don't live in one of these areas you better be able to pay the price. One small bottle of ice wine could cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars but the old saying is "you only live once."

Ice wine has been compared to a very big diamond; we'd all like to have one. The climate conditions have to be just right in order for this very rare and expensive wine to be made.

Ice wine goes very well with any type of desert and should be served chilled. With the rarity and prices of ice wine, it should be sipped to enjoy every flavor it entails and respected as Mother Nature intended it to be.