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28 Wines&Vines January 2015 wine industry news QST offers its clients……. Professionally fabricated stainless tanks 35 years of tank fabrication experience Performance & reliability guarantees Custom designs & modern features Quick & competitive tank project pricing On site tank repairs & modifications Special application tanks of all sizes "In stock tanks" from 500 to 10,000 gallons 510 Caletti Ave. Windsor, Ca. 95492 Phone 707-837-2721 or Toll-Free 877-598-0672 www.qualitystainless.com Company Website winetanks@aol.com email contact/sales info Custom Fabricated Tanks for the perfect size & fit… or Ready to Ship "Stock Tanks" Either way QST is ready to assist our clients! Call QST today for information or pricing! QUALITY STAINLESS TANKS P rosser, Wash.—Cold weather arrived in the Pacific North- west just days after many wineries finished bringing in the 2014 harvest. But the opportunity to pick grapes for ice wine trumped fears of frost damage for many vintners, with initial reports suggesting that conditions hit a sweet spot for capitalizing on wintry conditions. Chateau Ste. Michelle har- vested 15 tons of frozen Riesling grapes from its Horse Heaven Vineyard in Paterson, Wash., on the morning of Nov. 15, when temperatures dropped to 6º F. The block—one of several set aside for late-harvest wines, sits low in the Columbia River Valley and is known for its ability to cap- ture colder air. "We specifically left some Ries- ling out in the hope of making some ice wine, because it's a unique style of wine. You can't do it everywhere in the world," wine- maker Wendy Stuckey told Wines & Vines. "(The) little area in the Horse Heaven Hills where the vine- yard is in a low spot, and when it does get cold, it gets cold enough." The grapes harvested will yield about 200 cases of ice wine, mark- ing the eighth time Chateau Ste. Michelle has been able to make the product. Unusually, it is also Washington state's second straight year of production—the first back- to-back ice wine harvest since 2002-03. Further north, in British Co- lumbia's Okanagan Valley, tem- peratures dipped to 10.4º F on the morning of Nov. 12, allowing win- eries to gather grapes for the prov- ince's second-earliest ice wine harvest on record. The industry's earliest ever ice wine harvest occurred Nov. 5, 2003, with recent years also seeing several harvests starting shortly after the harvest for still wine grapes. In 2011, harvest began Nov. 19, and the year before, pick- ing began Nov. 22. This year, however, the cold weather was a generalized phe- nomenon that saw properties from Tantalus Vineyards above Kelowna, B.C., to Nk'Mip Cellars in heat-baked Osoyoos, B.C., har- vesting ice wine grapes earlier— and in greater abundance—than in previous seasons. By law, ice wine must be made from grapes frozen on the vine at temperatures of -8º C (17.6º F) or lower, and the pressed grape juice must be a minimum of 35º Brix. All told, 29 wineries in British Columbia registered an intention to pick grapes for ice wine, with the harvest projected at 931 tons from 235 acres. The figure is simi- lar to last year, when 29 wineries registered intentions to harvest upward of 1,000 tons of grapes. Ontario, which produces the lion's share of Canada's ice wine, is readying for harvest later this winter. Ontario growers typically harvest 5,500 tons of grapes each season, but temperatures tend not to drop sufficiently low for ice wine production until mid-December. — Peter Mitham Cold Snap Speeds Ice Wine Harvest in the Northwest Chateau Ste. Michelle harvested clusters of Riesling for its ice wine program Nov. 15, earlier than normal. By law, ice wine must be made from grapes frozen on the vine at -8° C or lower.