As the Okanagan shivers in the grip of the first significant cold snap of the winter, local winemakers are racing to harvest the frozen grapes that they will turn into liquid gold.
Ice wine is one of the rarest types of wine in the world and the Okanagan is one of the few regions that can produce a significant amount of it.
However until recently, many winemakers were starting to think that they would not even be able to make ice wine this year.
“It sure did not look it,” said Nirmal Gidda from Mount Boucherie Estate Winery. “We have been getting up as high as plus 15 and low of plus 2 so I am glad the day finally showed up.”
And that day was Thursday, when conditions were finally ripe enough for the picking to begin.
Ice wine grapes are harvested when the temperature drops to minus 8.
“This winter has been pretty mild compared to the last few,” said David Paterson of Tantalus Vineyards. “For a while, it was not looking like we were going to get ice wine but we got it just this morning so that’s good.”
But trying to make ice wine is always a gamble: the longer the harvest is delayed, the greater the risk the grapes will completely shrivel up or be eaten by birds.
“This year we are behind almost two months what we were last year,” Gidda said. “The volumes won’t be as high as last year but the quality will be as good if not better.”
However there are some advantages to leaving the grapes on the vine this long.
When the berries are frozen solid, the grapes have an extremely high sugar content.
Once pressed, the grapes will produce a very sweet nectar that is almost like a syrup.
When fermented, the juice produces ice wine, which is one of the world’s most popular and expensive dessert wines.
“You get more intense flavours and your sugars are more concentrated,” said Jim Faulkner from Mount Boucherie Estate Winery. “You will have a really nice ice wine at the end of the day.”
Although the Okanagan will probably produce less than half as much ice wine as it did last year, the quality is expected to very good.
However, not all Okanagan wineries have been able to harvest their ice wine grapes over the past couple of days: some, especially in the South Okanagan, are still waiting for the temperature to drop past minus 8.
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