Icewine

The VQA rules behind Canadian icewine

VQA rules won't call a wine icewine unless the grapes freeze naturally on the vine and get picked below -8°C. That sometimes means picking well after midnight, with headlamps and a deadline. The juice has to hit at least 35 Brix, a sugar reading most table wine never touches. That's most of why a bottle costs what it does: a hard frost yields a fraction of a normal harvest. Back in 1991, an Ontario Vidal won the top prize at Vinexpo in Bordeaux, and the world started taking Canadian wine seriously. That reputation still holds.

Vidal, Riesling, and what grows here

Vidal and Riesling make up the biggest share of this collection. Vidal leans tropical and honeyed; Riesling keeps more citrus and acid under the sugar. Cabernet Franc turns up too, made into a red icewine that tastes like frozen strawberries. Niagara grows most of the Vidal, Riesling and Cabernet Franc here, plus a Chardonnay of its own. The Okanagan's side is smaller and more varied: a touch of Riesling, a Chardonnay, Merlot and a few others. Check the grape on the label. It tells you more about what's in the glass than the region does.

Choosing a bottle

A 200 mL bottle is the low-commitment way to try icewine; 375 mL is the standard gift size once you know what you like. If you want the sweetness without the icewine price, dessert wine covers the late-harvest end of the shelf and costs less per bottle.