Icewine: Icewine: Frosty climate proves a tasty blessing

By Ilona Biro

Published in The Globe and Mail, Nov 27, 1996

NIAGARA–ON–THE–LAKE–If people still need a reason to stop global warming, they should visit the Niagara Peninsula on a cold winter day. If their timing was right, they'd witness one of the most truly blessed outcomes of Canada's devilishly cold winters - the annual icewine harvest.

Canada's guaranteed frosts have enabled Canadian winemakers to profit handsomely from a product that originated in Germany over three hundred years ago - but which the Germans cannot always make. In wine-making at least, our nasty winters are a definite competitive advantage over Europe's less reliable winter temperatures.

Every winter, when a string of cold days have frozen the vidal and riesling grapes into rock-hard pellets, Niagara winemakers begin the annual production of world-famous Ontario icewine. In 2002, the icewine harvest at Inniskillin winery began on February 4th – though the mild winter temperatures proved challenging for winemakers who were kept guessing until the last minute. About 40 hardy souls usually take part in the event, harvesting the clusters of tough-skinned grapes by hand, in between breaks to warm up over mulled wine. Always festive, and frequently held at night to ensure the grapes stay frozen, it is an occasion that draws Toronto restaurateurs, sommeliers, celebrity chefs, wine consultants, and other assorted icewine groupies who all get into the act.

By the time the 2001 icewine harvest started, the grapes had some degree of dehydration, which concentrates the sugars, acids, and extracts, intensifying the flavours and adding complexity to the wine made from it. The finished icewine is intensely sweet and flavourful, with its fine balance achieved by the acidity, which gives a long, lingering finish on the palate. The nose of icewine recalls lychee nuts, while the taste suggests the full spectrum of tropical fruits, with shadings of peach nectar and mango. No wonder then, that Asian nations have made icewine one of their favourite Canadian imports, and that Europeans are set to fall in love as well with the recent opening of the EU market to Canadian icewine.

Though I was early for this year’s harvest, arriving in Niagara in that patch of holidays between Christmas and New Year's, I had a great time touring wineries. Coming here in the off-season was a strategic decision - anyone who's visited the area in the summer knows why. But we hadn't expected how popular the region remains for tourists, even when it's blanketed by a thick layer of snow and frost.

The larger wineries maintain their public tours during the winter months, though on a reduced schedule, and wine shops and tasting bars remain open at virtually all the wineries. I took the self-guided tour at Inniskillin, stopping to photograph the rows of frosted icewine grapes. The tour's 20 stations provided detailed information on every aspect of wine-making - from the unique geography and microclimate of the Niagara Escarpment, to the oak forests of France where most of the barrels for winemaking come from.

The handsome barn that houses Inniskillin's wine shop and offices is rumoured to have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who no doubt would have approved of its new use. Its silvery wooden walls also shelter a tasting bar where visitors can sample wines and a shop where Inniskillin's full range of wines can be bought. Upstairs in the barn's loft, special events take place regularly, with celebrity chefs from the region taking part in wine and food pairing evenings.

When we finally tired of touring, we headed back to our "home away from home" in Niagara-on-the-Lake, just a few steps away from the madding crowds taking advantage of post-Christmas bargains on Queen Street.

Angie and Hartley Strauss, longtime Niagara-on-the-Lake residents, have created a delightful cottage alongside their historic home. Cosy, spacious and self-contained, this is a great alternative to a hotel or inn, with a scrabble game we put to good use while continuing our winetasting long into the night.

I'm already planning a return trip to Niagara for a combination cycling-winetasting trip during fruit tree blossom season. But there are lots of wine-related events offered throughout the year, like June’s New Vintage Niagara Weekend, August’s Taste of Niagara, and September’s month-long Niagara Grape and Wine Festival.