Ice Wine
Today we attended the New York Ice Wine Festival. And we did not have to travel far, just down the road and up the hill to Casa Larga. When it comes to U.S. wines it seems New York state is often playing second fiddle to California. But the truth is we make some excellent wines here, and sorry California, you can’t make ice wine like we do. The grapes are hand picked when they are frozen on the vine, when it is at least 20 degrees Fahrenheit. (-6C). Boy I have a lot of respect for those grape pickers. Brrrrr and yummm. Because the grapes are partially shriveled and frozen there is a very high sugar content in the grape. The juice from these grapes ferments for about twice as long as regular grapes as a result. This also produces a thicker sweeter wine, making ice wine an excellent desert wine.