Featured Wine Topic - Icewine Part II
July 29, 2008
Whenever an Icewine harvest is planned there is a lot of guesswork involved. The best time to pick Icewine is soon after the first serious freezes start. I prefer to get the grapes off in early December. In the past decade the Icewine harvest has become more and more unpredictable. In 2006 Ingle Vineyard set out to make a Riesling Icewine but when November stayed in the mid-60s all month long the grapes became too dehydrated for Icewine production so they were harvested before any serious freeze occurred. The resulting 2006 Ingle Vineyard Late Harvest Riesling Reserve turned out to be the best Late Harvest Riesling I ever made. With the current unpredictable weather patterns it is almost a guarantee that if you want to harvest the frozen grapes in December then you will most likely have to do a middle of the night picking, when a short period of optimum 18-20¢ªF occurs.
Picking Icewine grapes too cold means that the juice yields go way down and the rock hard berries do not press properly. Pick slightly too warm and the juice is dilute.
The Guessing Game
I start my quest for the perfect weather by monitoring as much weather data is possible. Generally once you start getting daytime highs in the low 20s then it is time to pay attention. While Internet weather service can give you an accurate temp. reading at their station this is only a guideline for us. I live in Corning and the Ingle Vineyard is located on the south-west side of Canandaigua Lake. So this is how it goes:
John Ingle = JI Thomas Laszlo = TL
December 4, 2007
TL: I tell my winery workers earlier in the day that it is not likely we will be picking the Icewine tonight.
TL: 6:00pm – I look at my at home patio thermometer and it is reading 23¢ªF so I phone John and some of my workers that it won’t be going down tonight
TL: 8:00pm – Temp. in Corning is now 20¢ªF. Still no guarantee that the night will be any colder. I call John and ask him what the temp. is at the vineyard. He says that it is 19¢ªF. I ask John if the sky is clear and if it is windy. No clouds and no wind. Tables have turned.
TL: 9:00pm – I call the workers that the previouly cancelled harvest tonight is now a possibility. I will call them again at 11:00pm
JI: 9:45pm – John informs me that the 19¢ªF and calm skies are holding. I tell him that I will call back at 11:00pm.
TL: 11:05pm – With the weather steady and the temp. fixed at 19¢ªF my gut instinct is that by 4:00 am the grapes should be at the perfect temp. for harvesting. I call John and tell him it’s a go!
TL: 11:15pm – I call the workers and say that it is on. Meet at the vineyard at 4:00 am Dec.5th.
I am hoping that enough people will gather to harvest the grapes so that we can get them picked by the aid of tractor light and moonlight. We must harvest all of the grapes by 7:30 am. By that time the rising sun warms the grapes and the harvest must cease and be put off for another night.
Most everyone is picking by 4:15 am Dec. 5th. Some have not shown up. They overslept their alarms perhaps. Some don’t get there until 6:00 am since many are unfamiliar with directions to Ingle Vineyard in that it is 40 minutes north of the winery.
In the end the grapes were all picked by 7:15 am December 5th, 2007. After a celebratory toast of 1996 Heron Hill Blanc de Blanc from John’s private reserve everyone is sent home to rest or have breakfast. Those that have breakfast, like the winemaking staff and I, enjoy the added pleasure of starting the painfully slow pressing process back at the winery. We press until 6:00 pm that night then close up the press and leave it outside for another round of pressing the next day.
I estimate a little over 2 tons of grapes were harvested. The result of this Herculean effort resulted in 816 bottles (375ml) of Riesling Icewine. Look for this tasty winter treat to be released mid to late 2009.
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