Icy red wine

There exist no icy red wine but ice wine exists and Germany is one of the leading producers of this very rare wine. Because ice wines requires a very cold winter to be produced as the grapes freeze on the vines and then picked and pressed in the middle of the winter. So it is very rare and expensive, especially for good quality ice wine or Eiswein as it is called in German.

Villa Wolf is an estate in Pfalz region in Germany. Ernst loosen took over the estate in 1996. The Eiswein that I tasted if from 2009. The ABV is 8%, very low ABV but that is normal for ice wines. The smell is very good. One can smell dried fruits. The taste is of apricots, honey and almost some burnt flavour. It is very deep and rich. A wonderful wine and buy a bottle if you can find one.

Going a bit south we get to Italy and Alto Adige (South Tyrol). Here I have tasted a Lagrein wine from producer Kellerei St Michael-Eppan of the vintage 2012. Lagrein is a grape that is almost exclusively grown in Alto Adige. The wine smells very nice. The taste is of black currants, cherries and some soft tannins. A very good wine. At its peak right now. Drink and be happy.