Name for a special type of wine produced from frozen grapes. There must have been an "ice wine" already in ancient times, because the Roman poet Martial (40-102) reports of winegrowers who brought in frost-starved grapes in November. Also in the 1st century, the scholar Pliny the Elder (23-79) described certain grape varieties: "They are not harvested until it has frozen". This indicates that ice wine was produced quite deliberately and not just by chance. Later, however, this method of harvesting and vinification seemed to have been forgotten. It is said that the production of ice wine was then rediscovered in France towards the end of the 18th century. Similar to the Trockenbeerenauslese, the phenomenon was not planned specifically in the beginning, but most likely occurred by chance when a very early frost attack surprised the wineries during the actual main harvest.
![]()
There is a vast number of sources on the web where one can acquire knowledge about wine. But none has the scope, timeliness and accuracy of the information in the encyclopaedia at wein.plus. I use it regularly and rely on it.
Sigi Hiss
freier Autor und Weinberater (Fine, Vinum u.a.), Bad Krozingen