![]() Thus, eiswein is a more recent German wine style than the botrytised wines. These wines would usually be produced from grapes affected by noble rot. Sweet wines produced from late harvested grapes were well-established as the most valued German wine style by the early 19th century, following the discovery of Spätlese at Schloss Johannisberg in Rheingau in 1775, and the subsequent introduction of the Auslese designation. When it was noticed that these grapes yielded very sweet must, they were pressed and an ice wine was produced. That winter was harsh and some wine growers had the idea to leave grapes hanging on the vine for use as animal fodder. Better documentation exists for an ice-wine harvest in Dromersheim close to Bingen in Rheinhessen on February 11, 1830. It is believed that the first post-Roman ice wine was made in Franconia in 1794. Monument commemorating the first harvest of ice wine in Bingen in 1830 Wine from Chiomonte in the Val di Susa was popular in Roman times and this town still today produces one of Italy's few ice wines. In either case, the method seems later to have been forgotten. It cannot be completely ruled out that the descriptions refer to dried grape wines, a common style of wine in Roman times, where the raisin-like grapes were harvested late enough for the first frost to have fallen. Details as to the winemaking and description of these wines are unknown. ![]() The poet Martial recommended that grapes should be left on the vine until November or until they were stiff with frost. ![]() Pliny the Elder (AD 23 – 79) wrote that certain grape varieties were not harvested before the first frost had occurred. There are indications that frozen grapes were used to make wine in Roman times. Canada is the world's largest producer of ice wines, producing a greater volume of ice wine than all other countries combined, followed by Germany. Ice wine production is limited to that minority of the world's wine-growing regions where the necessary cold temperatures can be expected to be reached with some regularity. This results in relatively small amounts of ice wine being made worldwide, making ice wines generally expensive. Ice wine production is risky (the frost may not come at all before the grapes rot or are otherwise lost) and requires the availability of a large enough labour force to pick the whole crop within a few hours, at a moment's notice, on the first morning that is cold enough. When the grapes are free of Botrytis, they are said to come in "clean". This gives ice wine its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by high acidity. Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity arises for an ice wine harvest, which in extreme cases can occur after the New Year, on a northern hemisphere calendar. Unlike the grapes from which other dessert wines are made, such as Sauternes, Tokaji, or Trockenbeerenauslese, ice wine grapes should not be affected by Botrytis cinerea or noble rot, at least not to any great degree. With ice wines, the freezing happens before the fermentation, not afterwards. The grapes' must is then pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, very sweet juice. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated grape juice to develop. Ice wine (or icewine German: Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. Ice wines produced from the Niagara College Teaching Winery
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