Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/60007
NEWS OF GRAPES AND WINES IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA Eastern Ice Wine Becomes 2012 Vintage L ancaster, Pa.—This winter's warm tem- peratures delayed the ice wine harvest from Michigan to Eastern Canada until the first week of 2012, when growers were able to pick the last of their grapes. In both the United States and Canada, a wine designated as "ice wine" must be made from grapes that were frozen naturally on the vine. Once grapes have been subjected to the deep freeze, they are pressed to release the concentrated, sweet juice that will be fermented into ice wine. Steve Di Francesco, winemaker at 14,000- case Knapp Winery in Romulus, N.Y., said that workers picked 4 tons of Vidal on Jan. 3 and finished pressing in two days. According to Di Francesco, "This year was more difficult. We had drought during the summer and then rain in the fall, with lots of disease pressure. We left twice as many grapes hanging for ice wine, but the yield was half what it was in the past." Bel Lago Vineyards and Winery in Cedar, Mich., also harvested ice wine grapes Jan. 3. The cellar and tasting room crew picked 1.5 tons of Pinot Grigio while the temperature registered about 15°F. Although there were three short periods of time in December when grapes for ice wine could have been harvested in Ontario and Nova Scotia, the first sustained cold period lasting more than 24 hours occurred in early January. Temperatures in Ontario dropped to 5°F on Jan. 3, when most of the ice wine harvest took place. It is estimated that 3,400 tonnes (3,747 tons) of grapes Warner has the largest planting in Nova Scotia. He harvested 25 tonnes (27.5 tons) of Vidal on two nights, Dec. 24-25, as well as Jan. 4, when temperatures dipped as low as 10°F. "There was very little snow on the for ice wine will be harvested this year, somewhat more than last year because of a rebound in the ice wine market. With five acres of ice wine grapes, John winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "2012 ice wine." ground," Warner told Wine East. "This made machine-harvesting the frozen grapes much easier than our typical late December/early January ice wine harvest." The 4,500 liters of ice wine juice he is producing will be sold to local Nova Scotia wineries. —Linda Jones McKee and Hudson Cattell HEADLINE p71 EWE PREVIEW p72 BLANC DU BOIS p75 EasternWineLab_Mar09.qxp 1/22/09 9:47 AM Page 1 EASTERN WINE LABS Serving the Analytical needs of East Coast Wineries WWW.EASTERNWINELABS.COM Ph 609-859-4302 Cell 609-668-2854 chemist@easternwinelabs.com AOAC Member Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2012 71