Ice wine is a dessert wine that is produced primarily by Canadian and German vintners. Its name is derived from the fact that the grapes are left to freeze on the vine before being harvested and processed. This results in an intensely sweet and complex wine, since much of the water content evaporates from the grapes during freezing, leaving more concentrated flavors and sugars. Ice wine tends to be much more expensive than traditional wine, mainly because production is labor-intensive. The grapes are harvested by hand, and the juice extracted from the frozen grapes is only about a fifth as much as that from regular wine grapes.
Instructions
1. Chill the bottle of ice wine in the refrigerator or the freezer to approximately -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). The flavors of ice wine are showcased best when the wine is chilled but not cold.
2. Uncork the bottle. Pour a small amount of the chilled ice wine into a wine glass. Ice wine has a very complex flavor, but it also has a highly intense sweetness, so it's usually consumed in small quantities.
3. Enjoy the ice wine on its own---it is often called "dessert in a glass"---or serve it with sweet baked desserts or fresh fruit.
4. Recork the bottle and refrigerate any unused ice wine. Once opened, ice wine will keep for three to five days when properly refrigerated.
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