THE ART OF ICE WINE MAKING PROCESS | Adira Wines

1. THE HISTORY OF ICE WINE MAKING PROCESS: During the 19th Century in cold climates of Austria and Germany the winemakers were bound to abandon their vineyards to feed livestock, and in winter they returned only to find frozen grapes on the vines but that did not stop them from producing wine with the frozen grapes thus introducing “Eiswein” to the world. THE ICE WINE MAKING PROCESS: The ice wine making process can be discussed in 5 steps: 1. Harvesting: it is the most crucial step of wine making because to get the high quality beverage grapes are required to be picked up at a particular time when it is ripe and frozen and this time is determined by both scientific and old fashioned methods. Harvesting can be done both manually and mechanically but most experts prefer hand picking. 2. Crushing: The fresh and ripe grapes are selected by experienced winemakers in the winery and those are then crushed in frozen condition. In the old days this step was achieved by harvest dance which was like a tradition but now machines are used which has made the pressing easier and also it makes the wine long lasting without usage of preservative.

2. 3. Fermentation: The simple words the process of transformation of sugar to alcohol is called fermentation. It takes place naturally and but sometimes yeast and other microorganisms are introduced into the liquid to fasten the process. 4. Clarification: This step in a combination of two process- Filtration and fining. Filtration is the process by which all the solid and unwanted particles are filtered out of the wine. Fining is the process by which additives are added to clarify the wine. 5. Aging and bottling: After clarification the wine is ready for consumption however winemakers can either bottle up the wine or keep it for further aging. What is the difference between Ice wine making process and a normal wine making process? The steps involved in iice wine making process is same as normal wine but the only additional step is that the grapes are frozen on the vine. This too can be done both traditionally and by cryoextraction. The varieties of grapes mostly used for ice wine making are: Riesling, Sylvaner and Vidal. Since ice wine’s taste is mainly dependent on the acidity level they can be easily aged from 10 – 50 years according to the expertise of the winemakers. Due to its specialty, ice wine is much more expensive than normal wine. HISTORY OF WINE MAKING PROCESS IN INDIA In India the viticulture history can be traced back to the Indus valley civilization when the grapevines were probably introduced from Persia. Since then it has always been in Indian culture but wasn’t that much demand which changed during the colonization by the Portuguese and British. However, it saw a fall again after Independence only to be revived during the 1980s and 1990s due to its demand among the growing middle class. REGIONS WHERE WINE IS MADE India has a very diverse range of climatic conditions throughout and most of it is not suitable for viticulture yet some parts are there where wine can be made. The vineyards are mostly at high altitudes to have the advantage of cooler air. The regions where vineyards are made and wine production takes place are Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana. THE VARIETIES OF GRAPES USED IN WINE MAKING IN INDIA Table grape varieties like Anabeshahi, Arkavati, Arkashyam, etc. which are available in southern India are used in wine making in India, these are the native varieties of grapes. There are some non-native varieties of grapes too which are used in winemaking- Bangalore Blue, Turkish grape named Sultana and Gulabi.