Niagara Escarpment

Some More Icewine Recognition

The more I get out and see what some other wine regions sell as dessert wine, and specifically how much they charge, the more I realize just how precious the climate of the Niagara USA wine region really is. While they do get a lot of local press, it's great to see national recognition of these small wineries' icewines. Schulze Vineyards & Winery just received a gold medal for their 2008 Vidal Icewine at the Riverside Wine Competition in California. Ann and Martin Schulze were thrilled when they read the news on the NYWGF’s website. Last time I visited the winery, Ann greeted me with a “Did you hear? We got our gold!"

As recent as last April, Wine Enthusiast included a photo and review of Niagara Landing’s 2007 Vidal Icewine with a score of 86 points. Last year the same wine was awarded a gold at the New York Food & Wine Classic. Arrowhead Spring Vineyards & Winery also got rave reviews from Wine Spectator recently for their 2005 Vidal Icewine with a 90 point score, a rare achievement for a New York State winery.

With 2009 bringing the addition of some interesting varietals other than vidal for icewines, I hope the momentum keeps moving in this direction as the world outside of this small community realizes they don’t need to shell out the big bucks to drink Ontario dessert wine. They may just find comparable quality from Niagara USA’s wineries at half the price.

Ice Wine Harvest 2009

Martin Schulze of Schulze Vineyards & Winery braving the chilly temps to harvest his frozen crop.

If there’s a buzz leaking out of the Niagara wine region it’s certainly coming from the handful of local wineries producing ice wine. Sure there’s red wines, white wines, dry wines and sweet wines in the region, but ice wine is one of the few varieties that we can declare with confidence is perfect for our climate.

As you know, ice wine is made from grapes left frozen on the vine and then harvested and pressed when temperatures settle below 18 degrees for a few days. The water in the grapes stay frozen and the sweet nectar of the grape is collected for fermentation. The end result is usually a wine with moderate alcohol, a high level of natural sweetness and laser-focused flavors. Usually fetching $40-$100 per half bottle (375ml), these wines are decadent and routinely call for a special occasion to drink.

Recently a New York Post travel writer visited several wineries here to highlight winter wines like ice wine and late harvest offerings. Our local media has considered the ice wine harvest to be newsworthy this season, as articles from the Buffalo News and Tonawanda News have featured some of our wineries that are making ice wine. Magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast have awarded respectable scores for these wineries, with Arrowhead Spring Vineyards receiving 90 points (WS) and Niagara Landing getting 86 points (WE).

There’s no doubt that this is just the beginning for local wineries that are taking advantage of our predictably cold climate. You can’t deny that the fastest journey to national recognition of Niagara wines may be through our ice wines. Expect more and more wineries to produce it every year as the buzz becomes louder and louder outside of just local media.

Niagara USA's first Ice Wine is here!

Last week, the Niagara Wine Trail saw the first release of Ice Wine from naturally frozen vidal grapes grown right here in a Niagara County vineyard. As I mentioned this past winter, Schulze Vineyards and Winery in Burt, NY harvested its vidal on a frozen January morning. Well, after a long fermentation process -- and an equally long winter -- the winery hosted a six-course wine pairing dinner which included the Vidal Ice Wine with dessert.

Dominic Carisetti, winemaker and outspoken ambassador of several local wineries, hosted the two-night event, prepping guests before each dish with detailed background info on the wines. The wine list was entirely white wines, ranging from dry to decadently sweet, offering vidal in its various incarnations and a couple examples of Niagara-grape-based wines. After the ice wine was poured, he took the time to get opinions and notes on everyone's descriptions and impressions. After the last course Martin and Ann invited their guests to taste several other wines on the tasting menu, including reds and sparkling wines.

The star of the night was obviously the Vidal Ice Wine. I've had the luxury of tasting it from grape to glass this year and I was still blown away by the richness, complexity, and laser-focused flavors. The aroma alone is worth pondering for hours as it boasts apricot, fig, honey and mango with each sniff. This wine is meant to be savored, either by itself, with desserts, cheeses, or, if you roll this way, with foie gras. And with a price tag under $40, it comes in at about half of what you'd pay across the border in Ontario. Cheers to that!

An Icy Return to Blogging

The past few months of long work days and hotel living haven't made for many inspired entries here. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I realized it may be interfering with my wine consumption as well. The fact is that it took a good arse-kicking from Lenn over at Lenndevours to get my fingers typing. Well that and a divine act from above which put me back in the Niagara Region for just a few days, one of which just happened to be the day when Niagara Landing and Schulze Vineyards & Winery harvested vidal grapes for ice wine. Check out my story at Lenndevours for the details.

You might also want to read the recent story in the Lockport Union and Sun talked about the ice wine harvest at Niagara Landing.