As we look forward to the delights of harvest 2019, we proudly share and enjoy ourselves, our newly released, inaugural Ice Wine from our 2018 harvest.
A year ago, in mid-November, our team and harvest volunteers gathered to harvest the frozen Frontenac blanc and Frontenac gris from our vineyard. When we opened the press to a block of frozen grapes, we knew we’d made history. Our very first Ice Wine!
Our Ice Wine has notes of lush pineapple, caramelized banana, and butterscotch candies and is available for tasting and purchasing in our Lincolnville and Portland tasting rooms – as well as online via mainewine.com/buy.
Winemaker’s Notes: In 2018, for the second vintage in a row, we left our Frontenac gris and Frontenac blanc grapes on the vine for extended hang time with the expectation that we would make a late harvest dessert wine. When harvest time came, however, New England logged one of the coldest Novembers on record. Seizing the possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a true Ice Wine. We quickly assembled a picking team and early on the frigid morning of November 15, and harvested frozen grapes off the vines.
After a lengthy, cold pressing, where thick sweet juice slowly trickled out of the press for hours, we were left with a solid chunk of frozen grapes in our press (a bit difficult to get out by the way!) and beautiful, aromatic 33.6 brix juice in our tank.
