Not Really "Ice Wine"

Recently, I was gifted a half-bottle (375ml) of something labeled "Wagner 2013 Riesling Ice". It is gold in color and very viscous. It has apples and a touch of cloves and a bit of botrytis on the nose. Very high residual sugar, yet a lot of acid, so it balances nicely and a long finish. I was going to post this tasting note, so to get my details correct, I looked closely at the label and my jaw dropped. The back label says "Sugar at Harvest: 22 brix; Residual Sugar: 24% by weight". The back label goes on to say it is made from frozen grapes. Confused, I looked at the front label again, and it does not say "ICE WINE", only "ICE". From Wiki: "The United States law for ice wines also specifies that the grapes must be naturally frozen. The TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau) regulations state that "Wine made from grapes frozen after harvest may not be labeled with the term "ice wine" or any variation thereof, and if the wine is labeled to suggest it was made from frozen grapes, the label must be qualified to show that the grapes were frozen postharvest."
I looked the wine up online and it is listed at $25 at the winery, which would be cheap, if it was real ice wine. In all honesty, it was enjoyable, but I found the high acidity a bit odd. Wagner is on the East side of Seneca Lake, in the Finger Lakes.
I posted about this on a local wine FB Page and got the following comments:

Jonathan Oakes - Without the freeze and thaw cycles occurring naturally on the vine the grapes won't have the character development derived raisin-ing and acid degradation. Botrytis also plays a factor here sometimes. Iced variations should taste sweet and varietally correct but without the depth of flavor and persistence on the palate when compared to Ice wines produced the proper way.

Mark Criden - The nuances and character of true ice wine are not present when wine is made this way, but $25 v. $50 goes a long way towards explaining why. Conditions are often not favorable for particular vineyards - fear of losing the whole crop to predators may be a factor. Whatever the reason, it's way easier to make dessert wine this way.

[David M. Bueker]

Freeze/thaw cycles? I am all in on the freeze, but have never heard anyone refer to a need for freeze/thaw cycles.

Golan Heights Winery does a similar style of wine and labels it "HeightsWine". It retails in Israel in the range of $ 25 - $ 30 per 375 ml bottle. To quote from their website (http://www.golanwines.co.il/en/Our-Wine ... eightsWine):

Yarden HeightsWine is produced solely from Gewurztraminer grapes grown in vineyards on the cool northern Golan Heights. Very ripe hand-picked clusters are brought in their entirety to the winery, where they are cooled to -12oC (10oF) over the period of a month. The whole clusters are pressed gently while still frozen to gradually yield their rich and concentrated juice, which then ferments quite slowly over a number of months.

It is a rich and tasty dessert wine imvho, and mostly well-received by knowledgeable critics (including the late Daniel Rogov), but I never had the chance to compare it directly to "true" ice wines.

Freeze/thaw cycles? I am all in on the freeze, but have never heard anyone refer to a need for freeze/thaw cycles.

It happens. By regulation in Canada, ice wines can only be made from grapes harvested when temperatures of 14 DegF are obtained for at least 6 hours. By the time this happens, usually in December around here, the grapes have gone through several cycles of above and below freezing. This can contribute to a raisining effect, as the humidity changes also. Also, I trust Jonathan Oakes' insight on this, as he is the wine maker at Leonard Oakes Winery and makes Ice Wine. He also interned at Canadian wineries several years ago.

I'm trying to figure out how using the word ICE right after the word RIESLING does not qualify as a variation on the term ICE WINE. It would qualify if I were a TTB employee responsible for label approval.

[David M. Bueker]

I understand that the freeze/thaw cycles would happen. I don't see how those cycles are a key to proper flavor development.

I understand that the freeze/thaw cycles would happen. I don't see how those cycles are a key to proper flavor development.

The use of cryo-extraction to make "artificial" eisweins has been around for awhile. It is sometimes (I understand) even used in Sauternes. RandallGrahm was one of the first to make "ice wines" by this process back in the mid-'80's. They are (or can be) perfectly legitimate ice wines in that they have the requisite sweetness, alcohol level, and high acidity as "natural" ice wines.

Genuine ice wines are left on the vine until the first hard freeze comes along and then the grapes are harvested frozen & pressed. They can be hanging out there on the vine (which can very well have dropped all its leaves) subject to the elements, bugs, freezing & thawing, all sorts of things. Often into Dec or Jan. Being subject to the elements, they tend (to my palate) have a somewhat more interesting character than artificial ice wines.

Artificial ice wines can be made by harvesting the grapes and putting them into a freezer until they're frozen solid, then sending them to press and letting them thaw a bit until you get the requisite yield/must level/etc. Or you can take the grapes immediately to press to extract the juice, then freezing down the juice partially and then scooping out the frozen chunks of water until the remaining must is at the desired sugar level/etc. I've heard of both processes being used in more benign climates like Calif or NM.

I find the artificial ice wines to have a sort of sterile/bland/grapey character to them and not as interesting as real eisweins. I find the ice wines, real or artificial, don't seem to often age into something really interesting like the botrytis/BA/TBA wines do.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Ah the dreaded cryo wines.

Still doesn't address my question regarding the comment about freeze/thaw cycles being necessary for character development (the Johnathan Oakes comment in Howie's original post). I've talked to a whole lot of German winemakers about eiswein, and none of them have ever menioned that as a critical stage. In fact they have routinely said the best eisweins are made when there is an eary, hard freeze. Cleanest grapes making for the best eiswein.

Ah the dreaded cryo wines.

Still doesn't address my question regarding the comment about freeze/thaw cycles being necessary for character development (the Johnathan Oakes comment in Howie's original post). I've talked to a whole lot of German winemakers about eiswein, and none of them have ever menioned that as a critical stage. In fact they have routinely said the best eisweins are made when there is an eary, hard freeze. Cleanest grapes making for the best eiswein.

I took that comment, David, to simply refer to the temperature cycling, the "subject to the elements" reference I made above.
But don't know for sure what he actually meant.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

And I would argue that he likely would not know a great eiswein if it bit him in the glass.

Like you David, I don’t think how the grapes are frozen (naturally or artificially) is really that important, but than again (as mentioned by Tom) the extended “hang time” on the vine and the work of the noble rot while the clusters are still hanging on the vine could give the wine more character.

Some might find the following link interesting
http://www.fltimes.com/arts_and_enterta ... l?mode=jqm

Salute

Nice link, Victor, and the mention of Jonathan Oakes was cool, as I know him well.

[David M. Bueker]

Hang time sure - never denied that in the first place. Freeze/thaw cycles are irrelevant though IMO.

From http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine_harvest.html

The ideal or optimal harvest time is mid December to mid January. Early freezing does not produce the highest quality juice. If the freeze comes too late the grapes may be dehydrated. More complex flavours may occur if the grapes are not picked until the second freeze, allowing for a freeze-thaw-freeze cycle.

Just for curiosity sake, I will conduct a blind tasting within the next few weeks and report the results. I have a bottle of 2012 Fulkerson Vidal Iced Wine from the Finger Lakes and will pick up a bottle of Leonard Oakes Ice Wine from Niagara County.

Maybe the Canadians have a “lazier” population of molds and the naturally occurring initial freeze-thaw-freeze cycle may play a role in how the mold population behaves or performs.

Salute

[David M. Bueker]

Maybe the Canadians have a “lazier” population of molds and the naturally occurring initial freeze-thaw-freeze cycle may play a role in how the mold population behaves or performs.

Lazy? Nah. More polite? Sure.

. It would qualify if I were a TTB employee responsible for label approval.

Me too.

I too have been bemused by the use of the word ICE on US freezer wines.

I'm assuming underlying cause of TTB's lack of enforcement is that the USA felt pressured into passing the regulation by the EU and Canada and as long as the label doesn't actually say 'Ice Wine' or 'Eiswein' they feel they've done enough.

Must be galling for the handful of real ice wine producers in the USA