Getting creative for the ice wine

BLOOMFIELD ONT. (02/02/12) Alex Hunter vineyard manager for Huff Estates and his assistant Doug Gyde pose in the wineries crop of Frontenac Gris grapes. The grape is used to make a dessert wine called Zero De Gris. The process of making a dessert wine is the same as making an ice wine but cannot be classified as one because VQA's rules of what grapes can be used. Photo by Linda Horn

By Linda Horn

Prince Edward County wineries use creative ways to overcome VQA Ice Wine rules and Mother Nature to produce quality dessert and late harvest wines.

The VQA is Ontario’s wine regulatory agency which has very strict rules about what can be called Ice Wine, including the temperature the grapes must be picked and processed at, and what variety of that grape can be used.

Because of the winter conditions in Prince Edward County, producing Ice Wine can be a challenge.

“If temperatures drop below -25, we are danger of damaging all of our crops. So for the majority of Prince Edward County grape growers, they take an extra step of burying the vines in the winter to protect them from the cold. This is not done in Niagara,” said Lynn Sullivan Chairperson for the Prince Edward County Winegrowers Association.

Sandbanks Winery in Wellington usually buries their vines, but one year made an Ice Wine using VQA rules. According to winery employee John Squair, the extra weight of the frozen grapes “stressed” the vines, which resulted in a lower yield in crops the next year.

Sandbanks decided to try another approach by picking the grapes before they were freeze.

“We use a Vidal grape which is an ice wine grape but it has not been frozen yet.  It has been kissed by frost a couple times and the flavour is more intense,” said Squair.

By doing this it is no longer considered an Ice Wine the winery calls it a late harvest wine.

Huff Estates in Bloomfield also puts their own spin on the sweet wine by using a grape that is not VQA Ice Wine grape. The winery calls it a dessert wine.

Alex Hunter vineyard manager, said, “it is the same process as Ice Wine but we use a grape called Frontenac Gris.”

But even with using a different grape the weather can still cause problems, especially with this years milder weather.

“What we want is a nice quick freeze because the longer the grapes hang they can become slightly more oxidized and can affect the flavour but that is something the winemaker can tweak,” said Hunter.

Sullivan said another option for Prince Edward County wineries is to buy Niagara ice wine juice. A winery then produces and bottles the wine here in Prince Edward County.

“While our focus is Pinot Noir, chardonnay, and sparkling wine, there are some wineries with excellent dessert and late harvest wines,” said Sullivan.