Ice wine worldwide threatened by warm temperatures
January 9, 2007
By Panos Kakaviatos
The ice wine harvest worldwide is under serious threat from the unseasonally balmy weather.
This year in Germany, where naturally frozen grapes rich in sugar were first discovered in the late 1700s, temperatures have remained resolutely above freezing – many degrees higher than the minimum needed to make eiswein.
'It just did not get cold enough,' Ernst Büscher of the German Wine Institute told decanter.com.
'Normally to make ice wine, you need a legal minimum of -7 degrees Celsius, but tomorrow they are forecasting 15 degrees.' This followed warm months in November and December, when temperatures never dipped below zero.
Büscher compared the remaining grapes on the vines to food in a broken refrigerator.
All hope is lost, he said, except perhaps for some producers in the eastern state of Saxony, not far from Berlin. 'Not since 1982 have we seen winter weather like this,' he said.
Celebrated producer Robert Weil in the Rheingau will not make ice wine. 'We really have little hope,' domain representative Jochen Becker-Köhn said. 'We had to wait until 14 January last year, but this year there is no chance.'
No German producers depend only on ice wine to stay in business – out of 600,000 bottles at Robert Weil, only 600 are typically ice wine. But a warming trend could result in even less than that in future years.
In the Northeast United States and parts of Canada, ice wine makers are in 'dire straits because of this winter's mild weather, and some fear there will be no product at all if January doesn't bring icy temperatures,' the Associated Press said.
'We can't pick them and then freeze them,' Bob Mazza, owner and president of Mazza Vineyards in Northeast Pennsylvania said. 'If we don't produce anything this year, we won't have anything to sell next year.'
More optimistically, the western Canadian province of British Columbia enjoyed an 'excellent' ice wine harvest this year. 'We had an entire week to harvest the frozen grapes in late November,' Leo Gebert, owner of the St. Hubertus Winery said. 'Typically temperatures dip low enough for just one day or two, but this year, even those who slept in had a second chance.'
But Gebert's brother and co-owner Andy cautioned that global warming is still affecting the Okanagan region where his and other wineries – including the famous Inniskillin – are based.
'This year was in some ways an old style winter, but generally we have seen ice wine harvests occurring later and later in the year. Birds stay up here longer before flying south.
'When we first came, if anyone who suggested planting Bordeaux varieties you'd think they were mad. Now there are even Pinot Noir plantings.'
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Just to show you how weird the weather is this year, we in British Columbia had the earliest ice wine harvest we've ever had, in November, immediately after our regular harvest. Those who were maintaining grapes for late harvest wines received an unexpected bonus of ice wine. Our usual harvest time of mid December to mid January has had moderate temperatures slightly above and below freezing, but we anticipate another cold snap this coming weekend.
The November weather set records by dropping to minus 18 Celsius, which was actually too cold to press ice wine. Many producers had to harvest and then hold the grapes until the temperature in the bins rose to about minus twelve.
It's been the best ice wine harvest ever for us, with both high quality and a large harvest! The ice wine season followed a very good regular season with rich well balanced flavours in Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc; high sugars and rich fruity flavours in the whites, ranging from Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris, and Chardonnay to Viognier.
Gary Strachan, Summerland, British Columbia
Interesting update on Icewine.
However we are very accustomed to thois waiting game. It is part of the risk and value of making Icewine.
As I send this e-mail we are getting some snow and temperatures are dropping as a strong cold front for northern Canada makes its way towards Niagara..........
As all viticulturalists we keep our fingers crossed and our patience high as we await the opportunity to continue the Icewine harvest.
Donald Ziraldo, Co-founder , Inniskillin Wines, Canada
To protect these famous viticultural regions, I think that the industry must work toward developing new vine varieties that are resistant to high temperatures, progressive winemaking techniques adapted to these new climatic conditions, and innovative managerial solutions to strategize the selling of new species.
While warmer temperatures are seen as a temporary blessing by some, it is a mistake to underestimate the long-term effects of this phenomenon. Unless an effort is made to conserve the climatic parameters of the planet, this blessing will quickly become a hopeless curse. Harry Constantinescu - Certified Sommelier
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Just to show you how weird the weather is this year, we in British Columbia had the earliest ice wine harvest we've ever had, in November, immediately after our regular harvest. Those who were maintaining grapes for late harvest wines received an unexpected bonus of ice wine. Our usual harvest time of mid December to mid January has had moderate temperatures slightly above and below freezing, but we anticipate another cold snap this coming weekend.
