To whomsoever who reads this, I am a little arrogant and mostly I wish to enforce my views on others , if these opening lines have offended you please do not read ahead.
They say It all started with a grape, one tiny little fruit, whose prestige some how got enhanced by a thousand fold over the years till today it has progressed in to a multi billion dollar industry.
We have all heard and raved about the famous French, Italian, German wines, the Latours, the Petruses etc , but what I find fascinating now is the emergence of the new world wines, wines from Argentina, Chile, Sudan, South Africa, States, etc , believe it or not Bekaa valley in lebanon is a hot spot for terrorist camps yet it produces one of the most exquisite new world whites.
Here comes into the picture the emerging wine country of Canada, particularly known for its ice wine ;I fortunately had the first hand experince of witnessing how these grapes were harvested and why these wines are so revered and expensive, a 375 ml bottle of wine costs upward of 50 dollars
I basically am entranced by the production concept, how they allow the grapes to freeze so that the nectar gets concentrated and then they harvest and produce wines from it , its ideally a very good dessert wine, it is even paired with chocolate generally a no-no for wine parings.
Now for some specifics the temperature has to be dropped to atleast -8 degress for it to be successfully harvested, the yield I s only 10 percent of the normal yield
some of my favorite ice wines from canada-
1.Cave Springs Cellars Reisling Icewine 1998- 60 dollars
2.Creekside Estate Winery Vidal icewine 1998- 45 dollars
- Inniskillin Reisling Icewine1998-70 dollars
The general grape varietals used are REISLING AND VIDAL;
The wine varies according to the wine makers style the general charctersitics are silky sweetness, fruit of peach and apricots, along with honey , almonds and toffee.
It is best served cool on its own or with dessert, fruit or blue cheese.
Theses wines are a connoisseurs delight and are a must for people who favor the exotic and have a touch of romance in them they come is beautiful specially hand crafted bottles
( depends from winery to winery)and they do have touch of some thing special.
Great for birthday gifts and special occasions.
Alsace in germany also produses a similar wine based on the similar concept
Well that will be all from my side on the virtues of this magnificant wine
take care
SAM
PS- READ AND COMMENT