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Klaus Reif is a 13th generation winemaker. The Reif family has been making wine for over 300 years.
Klaus Reif is the only winemaker in the world who makes Icewine on two continents: North America (Icewine) and Europe (Eiswein)
The Niagara Escarpment below Niagara Falls creates a micro climate perfect for cold weather viticulture.
While many grapes are harvested in September, Icewine grapes are left on the vine until the perfect conditions for Icewine, usually well into January.
The natural freezing and thawing creates the complex flavours that only nature can give to the grape
Ice can be friend or foe to the winter harvest. Icewine grapes are a farmer’s biggest gamble
Netting keeps birds and other hazards away while the grapes “earn their terroir”
When the grape freezes, the water in the grape turns to ice. When it is crushed, a richer, sweeter juice is extracted, leaving the ice crystals in the crusher
Sometimes grapes are harvested by hand and sometimes by machine. Even in a snowstorm, it is important to pick when the grapes are ready!
Harvest continues through the night and into the early morning harvest, while the moisture in the grapes is still frozen
When the grape freezes, the water in the grape turns to ice. When it is crushed, a richer, sweeter juice is extracted, leaving the ice crystals in the crusher
Icewine Grapes must be crushed while still frozen to separate the ice crystals from the very sweet juice (typically between 32 and 42 brix)
Klaus Reif samples the juice in the dark and early hours of the cold morning. By law, harvesting must only take place between 11pm and 11am.
The Icewine Festival is held in Niagara every January. Icewine Martinis are made in a luge that has been sculpted out of ice.
It takes 6-10 times more grapes to make a litre of Icewine than a table wine. The massive presses are only used during harvest, perhaps 5 days per year
In 1989 Robert M Parker called Klaus Reif’s Icewine “One of the top 10 dessert wines in the world”! Klaus has been improving each vintage ever since!
VinoCanada
Box 1727, Niagara on the Lake, Ontario Canada L0S 1J0
Phil Cheevers [email protected]
WWW.vinocanada.com
Fine Canadian Wines For Export
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