Wine from Winter, a thing of the past?

Hi all,

Now moving from the permanently cold regions of the last posts to cold seasons, in this case: winter season in Germany. Besides always causing mayhem to public transport, the German cold winters also produce a lovely product called 'Eiswein', or ice wine. This is a wine produced from grapes that are left on the vine after the summer, to be harvested between November and February after they have frozen (Cliff et al., 2002). Harvesting has to happen quickly and by hand, in the very early morning after a few consecutive nights of temperatures below -8 degrees C. It is risky, because it requires for this deep frost to happen before the grapes rot. Using these frozen grapes results in a very sweet, more concentrated dessert wine, famous in Germany. Here, ice wine is only allowed to carry the name when it's produced in the traditional manner I just described (German Patent Office, to be viewed here), with the consequence that it's usually quite expensive. Cheaper versions are often produced in New Zealand, where artificial frosting takes places in cool houses (Jones, 2007). 

Not only a sweet product, but a gorgeous view. (Picture and article in German here)

However, this delicacy may be a thing of the past, at least for German production. Because of climate change, a topic most of you will be familiar with, the winter season in Germany has changed. The warming has led to a decrease in possible 'Ice wine days'. In the decade of 1979-1988, there were 254 potential ice wine days, while there were only 145 in 1989-1998 (Essen-und-trinken.de). In the last thirty years, there were only four years in which ice wine grapes could be harvested in November. 2001 and 2002 were the only years in the past decade in which grapes could be harvested in December, the rest was harvested in January and February (best-of-wine.com). 

This rise in winter temperatures has not only led to less production and economic loss due to rotten grapes before frost happened, but it also changed the quality of the ice wine. Because the grapes hang on the vine longer, their average acidity has gone down 2 promille and up 2 degrees of sugar compared to values before 2000. According to experts, this makes for a less round and traditional taste.

Research from the leading Geisenheim Insitute for viticulture also suggests the production of Ice wine will most likely become impossible in Germany over the next decade. (Source: Icewine Article (German) ) The majority of the production has already moved to Canada, because of more secure winters. 2006 was apparently an exceptionally good year, so if you're ever in Franconia and have something to celebrate - it's much recommended. 

While this may seem an insignificant topic, it does show what I expressed in my last post: climate change affects our everyday lives. Not because we drink ice wine every day, but because this is but one example of how climate change causes a shift in production, with economic implications for individuals and a tradition being lost. Food for thought? Let's have a drink and discuss this maybe.. 

Also - if all this talk inspired you to have a glass and a good meal, or you want to know more about environmental change in relation to what we consume every day, check out my friend Katherine's awesome blog RIGHT HERE - CLICK

Cheers and see you next time!