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Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Thanks to the cold winter, at least eight wineries in Baden-Württemberg have harvested ice wines.
«This year was a special year;
the health of the grapes was very good, and the frost was great, ”said the president of the Württemberg winegrowing association, Hermann Hohl.
According to the German Wine Institute, most vintners harvested the grapes on January 11th.
To be able to harvest ice wine, the winemakers need not only low temperatures of minus seven degrees Celsius but also healthy vines.
In this respect, too, the year was very gratifying, said the managing director of Fellbacher Weingärtner, Thomas Seibold, whose company was able to harvest ice wine again after four years: "We had good, healthy grapes, the dry summer was good."
Due to climate change, the ice grape harvest is becoming increasingly unlikely, reported the deputy managing director of the Badischer Weinbauverband, Holger Klein: "Due to climatic changes, it will not be easier for the winemakers in Baden to harvest ice wines in the future."
Fewer and fewer companies are therefore willing to take the risk and let the grapes hang.
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Ice wines are considered the crowning glory of a vintage because the ingredients of the berries are concentrated by freezing.
For this, the grapes are processed in a frozen state.
This leaves the frozen water in the wine press.
"The juice then drips from the press as sweet as honey," said the German Wine Institute.
The yeasts in the wine barrel hardly manage to ferment a must with such a high sugar content.
The resulting wine therefore usually has a very high natural residual sugar content of well over 100 grams per liter, but at the same time only a relatively low alcohol content of around seven percent by volume.