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[maillotpois]

Icewine is a sweet, thick wine made from grapes which have been allowed to freeze on the vine. (Typically German or Canadian in origin). When the frozen grapes are pressed, the resulting juice apparently has a higher sugar content (and there must be something else going on chemically to make it almost viscous). That's a (drunk) layman's explanation.

[Brina]

So - total wine moron here - what does freezing the grapes do to the taste of the wine???

"To make Icewine, the grapes are left on the vine until after the first frost hits. These grapes are harvested after being frozen in the vineyard and then, while still frozen, they are pressed. They must be picked early - before 10 a.m. During both of these processes the temperature cannot exceed -8 degrees C. At this temperature (-8 degrees C) the berries will freeze as hard as marbles. While the grape is still in its frozen state, it is pressed and the water is driven out as shards of ice. This leaves a highly concentrated juice, very high in acids, sugars and aromatics." from Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) of Ontario


There are two things at work here affecting the sweetness. First, it is a late harvest and therefore the grapes are a bit overripe and therefore naturally sweeter. Second, the water freezes and then is forces out as ice leaving more sugar behind than if you press unfrozen grapes.

[DrBee]

Cool!

(ooh - sorry - bad pun - it's really uncontrolable, you know)

[Nanci]

fishdr, it concentrates the sugar. For those who are making wine in climates that are not conductive to reliable freezing, we have the freezer to do it artificially! "Real" ice wine, such as that from New York, is VERY expensive. I have yet to taste it...(Like $60/half bottle and WAY up). I am hording a bottle of Riesling ice wine from California.

mp, you HAVE TO try the BD Viognier Doux...I've had the BD Muscat Ice Wine, very yummy. And also the Raspberry wine, made from three different raspberries. That's another one where I set out to have one dessert glass before bed and couldn't stop...

Have you ever tried Banyuls, from France? OMG, it's like, "deep, heavy, syrupy, raisiny, spicy, plum, prune" in my tasting notes...It's a Grenache dessert wine. Here in Florida the local wineries make some VERY nice sherries and ports from the native grapes.

[Trek420]

fishdr sez "Have fun on the hike. I envy those of you that are near retirement."

Hey, I'm nowhere near close, I think I posted here unless I win the Lotto it'll be 10 years, 5 months, 16 days...who'se counting?

What surprises me is how many of those I work with do not participate in the 401K. Aw c'mon, the company will MATCH 80% of your first 6 %, it's like throwing money away if you don't do it.

And Icewine...several years ago I was on vacation in the Toronto/Niagra Falls area and it looked like wonderful cycling country. Relatively flat, lots of wineries, beautiful roads and quaint towns.....road trip!

[DrBee]

I'm somewhere in the realm of 25 years from retirement. Gov't makes you wait 30 years.

I now have all 3 of my references in line and I'm still working on the application.

Told the postdoc about my applying for the job. She took it really well. Whew! Major relief. She said she really understood. THEN she tells me about some major family stress that she had this past weekend and she broke down in tears. Lovely. I felt really lousy for dumping this info on her at such a lousy time for her. But I needed to tell her now before she heard it through the grapevine.

Speaking of grapevine - this icewine sounds really intereseting. I'll have to try to find some. The next time I'm near civilization, I'll have to look.

[KnottedYet]

Cheap wino review:

I have a very uneducated palate. I had a cool conversation with someone at work who said I should just buy wine that I can afford, and drink as broad a range as I can. Keep track of what I like and don't like.

So, I can safely say that I really like red wines. Dark ones. My all time favorite was a Barbera (?) that cost $9. I like Shiraz and Merlot. Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joe's ($2.99 Charles Shaw) shiraz is ok, but I like Purple Moon ($3.99) shiraz better because it seems to be richer or thicker or more levels of flavor or something like that.

I read a description once of red wine that was "smooth as oil and strong as beef" and I've been looking for one like that ever since.

Anyone have a favorite cheap (under $10) red wine that I could try? Or can anyone tell me what a Barbera is, and how to find it again?

[snapdragen]

Rex Goliath - it has a picture of a rooster on the label. At Cost Plus World Market it is usually under $10, more expensive at the local grocery store.

47 pound rooster

[Nanci]

OOh, yeah, the Rex Goliath Pinot Noir is great!! I just listened to a Podcast about how they came up with that whole marketing campaign- it was one of the first "animal" labels.

These I have rated "Like a Lot:"

Columbia Crest Syrah or Shiraz- same grape. $9.

Sutter Home Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, but not Merlot. VERY cheap. $5.

Rosemount Grenache-Shiraz. $6.

Lindemans Merlot and Shiraz. $5.

Ironstone Cabernet Franc and Petit Syrah. $9.

These I have rated "Love:"

Beaulieu Vineyard 2002 Pinot Noir $10. Impossible to find.

Bodega Norton Malbec. $7.

Bogle Petite Sirah. $10

[Nanci]

Barbera:

This noble (term reserved to describe the grapes that produce the world's greatest wines) red grape is used to make a wine of the same name that is a hearty, dark red, astingent but full-bodied, fruity wine high in tannin. Produced in the Piedmont region in northwestern Italy and in California, this wine ages well and is sometimes called "the people's wine" for its versatility and high production.

I have this book at home that has a section about if you like ________ then try_____. I'll look up Barera later.

[Brina]

I read a description once of red wine that was "smooth as oil and strong as beef" and I've been looking for one like that ever since.

Anyone have a favorite cheap (under $10) red wine that I could try? Or can anyone tell me what a Barbera is, and how to find it again?

It is a little more expensive at about $15 a bottle, but try Sin Zin, a really yummy zinfindel from Alexander Valley.

[Nanci]

Zinfandel was the first red wine I liked.

[DrBee]

I did not know that zinfandel was considered a red wine. I know it's sort-of red, but I guess I figured it was in it's own category. I learn something new every day

[Nanci]

No, fishdr, zinfandel is a red grape, sometimes used to make _white_ zinfandel, which is pink, which gets its color from the grape skins. You can also find white merlot, which is redder than white zin. After you like real wine, though, it's hard to get back into white zin.

[Nanci]

From Wine: An Introduction by Joanna Simon

If you like barolo:

Barolo is an acquired taste. It's not as tannic as it once was, but it's still a difficult wine to understand, and needs time to develop. It's also so quintessentially Italian that there is nothing like it outside its Piedmont homeland, and that includes the handful of New World nebbiolo wines. Authentic alternatives are Barbaresco, Garrinara, Ghemme, and Carema, and a few softer, less expensive Piedmont wines in which nebbiolo forms part of the name. Other Italian reds to try are barberas from Piedmont, the big Tuscan red Brunello di Montalcino, and Aglianico del Vulture from Basilicata. Outside Italy, apart from New World nebbiolos and blends, try northern Rhone wines: Crozes-Hermitage and St.-Joseph, moving up through Cornas to Cote-Rotie and Hermitage.

(In other words, you could hardly have picked a more difficult wine to find others like it.)

I have a bottle of Barolo I'm sitting on, it's a 2000. It's supposed to age a LONG time.