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Today was the best kind of days. Me, my sister, a car full of strangers, and our tour guide,
Susan, on a mission to uncover Nova Scotia Ice Wines. Ice Wine is a dessert wine made
by freezing grapes to remove the water leaving sugar and acid behind. It's not as simple
as it sounds. To be a true Ice Wine, grapes must be frozen on the vine at -8 or colder
for four consecutive days. Once that magic day arrives, teams of people
go out in the middle of the night. They pick the grapes and press them immediately outside
or in an uninsulated building. This prevents the grapes from warming up. The most common
ice wine grape is Vidal. Its skin is 2-3 times thicker than most wine grapes. They stay on
the vine for 2-3 months longer than our regular crops, so they need to be hearty to survive.
One tonne of Ice Wine grapes produces 100 - 150 litres of liquid. This is compared to
a regular grape which produces 700 - 750 litres from the same amount.
In Nova Scotia, we celebrate our icy harvest in February with the Nova Scotia Ice Wine
Festival. Check it out on your own, or, call Susan at Grape Escapes!
We sipped, swirled, and tasted our way through ice wines and appetizers. We learned a lot,
and laughed a lot more, creating the kind of memories my sister and I will cherish for
a lifetime. Today was the best kind of days.
"This is only the beginning..."