March 02,2020

Andrew Campbell 

According to a recent report of the German Wine Institute (DWI), wineries have failed to produce any Eiswein (ice wine) from the 2019 vintage. The DWI said warm weather of mild winter across Germany in 2019 left no frozen grapes to be harvested at the minimum temperature of -7°C required for making any ice wine.

The DWI indicated poor Eiswein harvest in the past decade. Records showed only 7 wineries were able to produce ice wine in 2018 and 8 wineries made ice wine in 2014. But it is the first time in Germany's 13 wine-growing regions that have failed to make ice wine from 2019.

Eiswein is a German wine-making tradition that dates back more than 200 years. The sweet dessert wine is made from grapes that have been frozen on the vine at temperatures below -7°C before picking in cold winters.

The DWI also warned if the mild winters due to climate change continue in the next few years, German ice wine regions will diminish even more of a rarity. Meanwhile, in Canada, another ice wine centre, 20 wineries in British Columbia could produce ice wine from the 2019 vintage. But warm weather forces the production in Niagara, Ontario to fall down 40%  this year.

Photo:Webshot.