Ask The Wine Ladies… Is Icewine made the same as Sauternes?
DEAR THE WINE LADIES,
My husband and received a bottle of Sauternes as a gift. Our foodie friend Brenda told us it would remind us of our icewine. Brenda told us it is a special and pricey wine, due in part to how it is made. We don’t particularly favor sweet wines, but my mother-in-law is mad for them. So I thought it might be a great treat for Mother’s Day. Is icewine made the same way as Sauternes?
– KRISTY
DEAR KRISTY,
Indeed, a great treat, Sauternes is the “king” of all sweet wines! Sauternes can only come from France and be produced in the Grave district south of Bordeaux. Icewine is not restricted as to where it can be made although Canada is widely considered the authority on this luscious wine – the “Nectar of the Gods” as it is commonly referred to. Both are sweet, complex and delectable!
Both Sauternes and our icewine must adhere to a strict set of regulations as to how they are made, although the rules and methodology of production for the two are entirely different.
What defines Sauternes is “noble rot”. The uniqueness of Sauternes is due to the mesoclimate it enjoys which encourages a very special fungus called botrytis cinerea, otherwise known as “noble rot” to attack the grapes. It is this fungus that causes the grapes to shrivel and rot, and allows a wonderful concentration of tartaric acid and sugar to develop in the grapes resulting in a wine of great complexity. Layer upon layer of rich flavours, honey, mango, flowers, brioche and so on. Ever lasting and age worthy beyond decades, this is Sauternes.
There is one similarity between our icewine and Sauternes. Outside of being dessert wines they are both very expensive to produce. Icewine needs to meet certain conditions in order to be made. For our icewine one of the regulations is that the grapes cannot be picked until the temperature reaches a minimum of -8 Celsius. For Sauternes, it is not about the temperature but rather about this unique fungus that must infect the grapes. Both situations are risky. In Canada, the birds and deer feast on the grapes while winemakers patiently await the freeze, limiting the yield. In Sauternes, the viticulturists must await the infection of noble rot, and occasionally it just doesn’t happen, or it can come very late limiting the yield even more. So patience is a virtue in Sauternes, as it is in Canada!
ATMA White 2015 – “The Cinderella of Greek grapes”. Georgia’s Wine Pick.
ATMA White 2015
Latest wine find from the region of Naoussa in the hills of Macedonia in Northern Greece. In fact Naoussa became the first wine region in Greece to be given its own official appellation title. It was used as the basis for the entire Greek appellation system. The classic Naoussa wine is made from Macedonia’s flagship red-wine grape xyinomavro. Although my wine pick is a white wine, albeit made with this red grape along with the Malagousia white variety.
Described as ‘the Cinderella of Greek grapes’ by some, nearly an extinct variety, it was revived in the 1970’s and is now used extensively in many of the best selling white wines. Beautiful brightish golden in colour, it has a vibrant and seductive nose with light floral notes and those of peach and exotic fruit. On first swirl reminded us of a Torrontes grape or briefly of Viognier, both aromatic varietals as well.On the palate fresh and long and quite full of expression with a lingering aftertaste.
Producer: Thymiopoulos Vineyards
Agent:
Playground of the Gods Showcases Ancient Greece and Thalia Wines. We invite you to join us.
Ask The Wine Ladies – Is the sediment at the bottom of the bottle all right to drink?
DEAR THE WINE LADIES,
At a recent dinner party the hostess noticed a small amount of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. It looked like tiny pieces of glass. This wine was a white one from Germany. I was a little hesitant to drink the wine however one of the guests assured us the wine was fine and there was no cause to worry. What were those little pebble-like stones and are they really harmless?
– JACKIE
DEAR JACKIE,
You are describing pebble-like stones are commonly referred to as ‘WINE DIAMONDS’ or weinstein. This literally translates to “wine stones’ in German speaking countries. What exactly are they and how did they end up at the bottom of the bottle? These wine diamonds are actually harmless crystalline deposits that naturally separate from wines during fermentation and aging. Potassium acid tartrate, the potassium salt of tartaric acid is the major component of this sediment. The presence of tartaric acid, along with malic acid, are very important in winemaking as they help provide good structure, fruit flavors, crispness on the palate and an increased lifespan of the wine.
The majority of winemakers today recognize that the consumer is alarmed or put off by the presence of these crystalline deposits even though they are harmless. Rather than educating the public, many wineries employ a process called ‘Cold Stabilization’ prior to bottling. This involves chilling the wine to just below zero degrees, causing the potassium bitartrate to crystallize. The wine is then filtered and bottled. Having the wine undergo this process prior to leaving the winery assures a clean filtered wine with no sediment. In cases where the wines do not undergo cold stabilization at the winery, this precipitation of the tartrates could happen during cold weather transport or cold storage conditions in one’s cellar.
