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Several winemakers in Franconia harvested grapes for ice wine production on the morning of December 28. Among them are Sebastian Koch from Binsfeld in Lower Franconia in the Stettener Stein area, as well as the Leo Sauer winery in Eibelstadt and the Melber winery in Rödelsee. The Krauß winery from Abtswind in the Franconian district of Kitzingen had already harvested frozen grapes in November.
According to the German Wine Institute (DWI), many businesses in Rhineland-Palatinate are also preparing for the ice wine harvest. This year, 50 businesses in Rhineland-Palatinate have registered around 42 hectares of vineyard area for the ice wine harvest. This is ten more businesses than last year.
For the ice wine harvest, the grapes must be completely frozen. This requires temperatures of at least minus seven degrees for several hours. The overripe grapes are harvested and then pressed. Ice wines are characterized by very high natural residual sugar contents of well over 100 grams per liter, but unlike sweet wines from Southern Europe, they have relatively low alcohol contents: Most of them have only around seven percent by volume.
As a rare specialty, German ice wines are also highly regarded internationally.
(ru / DWI)