"Ice wine" is an extremely sweet dessert wine made from frozen grapes.
It is said that the birth of ice wine was by chance. At the end of the 18th century, a cold wave hit the Franconia region of Germany, causing frost to form on fully ripe grapes, which should not have formed there. Then, before they could be harvested, the grapes eventually froze.
Frozen grapes are normally useless, but farmers desperately tried to squeeze the frozen grapes and make wine. They ended up with a rich, aromatic wine that was incomparable to any other. This is said to be the origin of ice wine.
When using frozen grapes, only about 10% of the juice can be extracted from a bunch of grapes compared to normal unfrozen grapes. As a result, the production volume of ice wine is very low, and it is expensive.
Since "Ice Wine" is an internationally registered trademark, only products made in Germany, Austria, and Canada can use the name.
