I mentioned in an earlier post that the unusual period of cold weather in Washington during December of 2008 would result in ice wine from Chateau Ste. Michelle in 2010.
I've since discovered that Chateau Ste. Michelle isn't the only winery to take advantage of the cold snap. A number of Eastern Washington wineries in the Yakima valley and around Snake River took advantage of the bone-freezing weather to harvest frozen grapes. Silver Lake Winery in Zillah, Washington hand-picked frozen Sauvignon blanc grapes on December 16 last year; five tons worth. Silver Lake says that they expect to be able to offer the wine to owners and wine club members as early as May or June of this year. Five tons may seem like a lot of grapes, but the concentrated juice doesn't make as much wine as you might think, even in half-bottles. I hope that there's enough for at least some to be available for retail.
Masset winery in Wapato, Washington also took advantage of freezing cold weather on December 17th to harvest Semillon grapes that the Masset Web site describes as "rock hard frozen grapes." After pressing, the concentrated juices was 45% sugar. They expect the wine to be available in mid-2009, with tasting available at the winery's tasting room. I'll be watching.
Bonair Winery in Zillah picked frozen Riesling grapes on December 14, at 15 F. The pressed juice was 44% sugar. It's not their first Riesling ice wine; they produced a highly regarded 2005 Riesling Ice Wine previously.The quantities of ice wine are always necessarily small, so I suspect that the best way to actually taste some, as well as purchase a bottle or three, is to actually visit the wineries. Sounds like a plan to me!