Wine fans can rejoice, because this year there is a harvest of ice wine, albeit a small one. Many winegrowers were already worried about the noble grapes because the mild winter weeks made hope for ice wine to dwindle this year. Thanks to the frost, some winegrowers can now breathe a sigh of relief.
The Icewine harvest has begun
It seemed almost impossible to harvest the coveted ice wine this year: the temperatures were far too mild. But in the meantime, it is wintry cold in almost all of Germany. This not only pleases wine lovers, but also the winegrowers, who can now harvest frozen Riesling and Pinot Noir grapes.
On the Middle Rhine, on the Nahe, in Rheinhessen, and in the Palatinate there were no frosty temperatures at night: Even during the day, frost is a must for ice wine. However, many winegrowers no longer expected an ice wine harvest, so a large proportion of the grapes were picked from the vines earlier due to the mild temperatures. Otherwise, the risk of the grapes spoiling would have been too great.
This is ice wine
Ice wine tastes especially sweet because the frozen grapes produce a highly concentrated must with high sugar content. For this purpose, the fruits are harvested at least minus seven degrees and then processed immediately in the winery. The water contained in the grapes only crystallizes when temperatures remain below seven degrees.
