Ice Wine Plucked in Pacific Northwest

Pickers harvest an early crop of frozen grapes for ice wine at Mission Hill Family Estate in Kelowna, B.C.
 
Kelowna, B.C. -- A long, deep cold snap has garnered the Pacific Northwest an early harvest of ice wine grapes. Genuine ice wine is made from grapes that have been naturally frozen on the vine. The rules in Canada, the continent's largest ice wine producer, require air temperatures to be minus-8ºC (17.6ºF) or lower.

Growers in British Columbia started picking the frozen grapes last weekend, with harvesters at Mission Hill Family Estate starting work at 13 acres of Riesling and Vidal vines on Sunday. Work at the two vineyards, in Kelowna and Naramata, wrapped up Monday afternoon.

Washington state vineyards followed on Tuesday, with Chateau Ste. Michelle taking advantage of the rare opportunity to harvest frozen Riesling grapes remaining on the vine at its vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA overlooking the Columbia River.

It was about 2ºF when workers started harvesting on Tuesday morning, said Kevin Corliss, director of vineyard operations for Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates--cold enough to put a chill in some of the diesel engines powering the trucks. "It was challenging, there's no doubt about that," Corliss said.

The teams got through harvest by about noon, gathering about 7 tons of Riesling grapes that impressed Chateau Ste. Michelle winemaker Bob Bertheau. "I talked to Bob; he said the pressing was going well, it was real sweet," Corliss told Wines & Vines.

The block from which the grapes were harvested was planted approximately 30 years ago, and is also used for Chateau Ste. Michelle's highly esteemed Single Berry Select wine. Wine Spectator awarded the 2000 vintage of the wine a score of 98. At the time of its release in 2003, the 2000 Single Berry Select Riesling was $200 per half-bottle (375ml)--the highest-priced wine in Washington's history.

The harvest was just the sixth time in four decades that conditions have allowed Chateau Ste. Michelle to harvest grapes for ice wine. "Some of the times you win, most of the time you just watch the fruit drop on the ground sooner or later because it doesn't get cold enough," Corliss said.

The harvest was equally notable north of the U.S.-Canada border in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley, where Mission Hill was reporting Brix levels approaching those seen in 2006--a stellar vintage for the province. Mission Hill Family Estate 2006 Reserve Riesling Ice Wine was named "best ice wine in the world" at the International Wine Challenge earlier this year in London.

With grapes enjoying lots of time to mature this year, and then a sudden freeze allowing the harvest of frozen grapes in excellent condition, Mission Hill was reporting Brix levels of approximately 48º. The usual reading is 38º, whereas in 2006 the readings were in excess of 50º Brix.

The harvest also bucked a trend to later harvests in recent years, often in January. But Mission Hill winemaker John Simes noted that when he came to Canada from Australia in the 1980s, it wasn't unusual to harvest ice wine grapes before Christmas. This week's harvest was therefore more of a traditional affair for the Okanagan, climate-wise.