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History of Icewines


 

    Long before there were icewines there were sweet wines (Eiswein).
    Germany made the first icewine about 200 years ago.
    It was not un till the 1990's when Canadian winemakers began to
    produce icewine in unthinkable volumes that the consumer and the
    wine trade took notice.*

 

 

 

The path

Some say that winemaking is the world's second oldest profession. Perhaps the secrets of wine making are older
than recorded history . Recorded history first mentions wines around the year 1500BC, starting in Mesopotamia or
Caucasia. By the year 3000 BC it was in Greece, and Italy by 1000 BC. The Greeks called Italy the Land of the Vines.
The Vikings landed in what is now called Newfoundland calling this new land Vineland.

Chateau d'Yquem from France is one of the most prized dessert wines in the world. Château d'Yquem is a Premier Cru Supérieur French , "Great First Growth" or "Great First Vintage") wine from the Sauternes region in the southern part of Bordeaux. Its history can be traced back to 1711; long before Germany made icewine. It price made it available only to royalty.

In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 , Château d'Yquem was the only Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority over all other wines of its type. Wines from Château d'Yquem are characterized by their complexity, concentration and sweetness. A relatively high acidity helps to counteract the sweetness. Another characteristic for which Château d'Yquem wines are renowned are their longevity. In a good year, a bottle will only begin to show its qualities after a decade or two of cellaring and with proper care, will keep for a century or more, gradually adding layers of taste and hitherto undetected fruity overtones. **

Château d'Yquem was the drink of royalty. Few could afford the price. It was not until the development of icewine
was there as wine that equaled or surpassed the status of Château d'Yquem . It was not until the 1980s
that noted wine writers compared the two and declaring in favour of icewine. Simply stating it had a fresher taste.

Although there is some debate as to where icewine originated, many believe it was accidentally discovered in
Franconia in 1774. However t was not un till the middle of the last century that Germany's wine producers made a
conscious effort to produce icewine on a consistant bases.*** Dr Hans Georg Ambrosi is called the father of Eiswein by many of his peers. From 1967 until 1990 he was the director of the Rheingau State Domaine one of the worlds greatest wine estates.* He first began experimenting with Eiswen wines in 1955 while at school in South Africa. Here traditions are laws of producing wine did not restrict him.

Ambrois returned to Germany where he was appointed director of the Rheingau State Domaine. He found another winemaker who had also produced icewine. Thus began Germany production of icewine on a regular bases.

While Germany is recognized by most of the world as the home of icewine. The Germany Ironically can not produce the wine
every year. Where Canadian icewine makers can and do. Canadian winemakers "fine tuned" the art and today Canada is the leader world wide Icewine producer.

T he first ice wine to appear on the Canadian front was a Riesling icewine, made in British Columbia by Walter Hainle in 1973. Tilman Hainle (Walter's son) and his wife Sandra continued experimenting with ice wines at their Hainle Vineyards in the Okanagan, ultimately producing their first commercial release in 1978. In 1991, other Okanagan winemakers joined in, capitalizing on the early onset of cold temperatures that year and plenty of frozen grapes on the vine.

Yes Mr Hainle was a German who immigrated to Canada in 1970. He established his winery in 1988 and
offered for sale the 1978 vintage Icewine. The winery is located in the small community of Peachland in British Columbia's Okanagan.

Despite having been first sold in British Columbia. It was in Ontario that the icewine industry began to develop.
In 1982 Peter Gamble, a young winemaker of Hillebrand Estates tried to make icewine for his personal use, but an unfortunate accident spoiled the experiment. A year later icewine caught the attention of Donald Ziraldo, the cofounder of Inniskillin Wines, and Karl Kaiser, his winemaker and business partner. Karl Kaiser set aside a few rows of Vidal for late harvesting, but he did not know how to or forgot to protect them. Ravenous birds ate all the grapes.

But persistence paid off today Inniskillin Wines is a world leader in the production and sales of Icewine. The greatest of international accolade for Canadian Icewine was bestowed on Inniskillin 1989 Icewine at Vinexpo, Bordeaux, in June 1991. This wine, judged by an international panel, was accorded the fair's highest award, Le Grand Prix d'Honneur.

Other wineries also took the plunge including, WALTER SCHMORANZ - WINEMASTER & PRESIDENT of Pelee Island whose's 2002 Cabernet Franc Ice Wine, was winner of the Citadelle de France Gold Medal. Royal de Maria produces exclusively icewine from a number of vitis vinifera varieties including Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
Pillitteri Estate who holds the title as the world's largest estate producer of Icewine and is currently the first winery in the world to commercially produce a Shiraz Icewine.

Back in BC winemakers like Howard Soon (Calona Vineyards), Sandra Oldfield (Tinhorn Creek) ,and Paradise
Ranch who specializes in making only icewines led the way.

Nova Scotia with fewer wineries than BC and Ontario are also noted producers of Icewine. Jost Vineyards has been producing Nova Scotia icewines since 1985 . Jost Vineyards 1999 Vidal Icewine was declared Canada's Wine of the Year at the All-Canadian Wine Championships held in Ontario. This is the first time in the 20 year history of the championships that a Nova Scotia winery has won this prestigious award.

We may have missed some winemakers and wineries who have greatly contributed to the production of Icewine in Canada.
but the story has not ended from time to time www.winesofcanada.com will add to history of icewine in Canada. We have not mentioned the icewines of Quebec nor fruit wines. There is also the International award-winning Royal DeMaria Wines. Their contributions are making Canadian icewines famous around the globe. Royal DeMaria makes 12 varsities.

In Quebec Chapelle Sainte Agnès in Sutton planted vineyards in 1997 of riesling, vidal, gewürztraminer and other grapes precisely to focus on icewine

Icewines can be made from a variety of grapes . Riesling is the the premier variety for making icewine. Vidal is a hardy grape and very popular in Ontario .Gewürztraminer, pinot noir, pinot gris, cabernet franc, chardonnay, gamay, merlot, and Kerner are all used in making icewine in Canada.

Is it icewine or ice wine? It really does not matter. In Canada the term most often used is Icewine, where in Europe those writing in English use ice wine.

Year after year Canada's wineries are awarded gold medals through out the world for its quality Icewines. Year after year Canada's winemakers strive to producer better wines, challenging them self and each other to produce this liquid gold.

We would like to thank author John Schreiner for his continuous contributions to this website.*


return to Icewine

* Icewine the complete Story, John Schreiner , Warwick Publishing
** From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
*** Tony Aspler, Vintage Canada,McGraw-Hill Ryerson



 

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