Ice wine from the Vidal grape: The specialty from Niagara

Lakeview Cellars is one of the lines of the Diamond Estate winery from Canada. The grapes for lakeview wines come from the best vineyards in the Niagara region and benefit from the coastal breezes of Lake Ontario. The wines all bear the “VQA Niagara Peninsula” seal. VQA stands for “Vintners Quality Alliance”, an appellation and regulation system for original Canadian wines that guarantees quality and authenticity. Lakeview’s reputation stems from the winery’s commitment to producing premium VQA wines at affordable prices. The harvest of the Icewine grapes takes place when the temperatures have reached -8 degrees Celsius or colder.

The hand-picked, naturally frozen grapes produce a juice with an intense concentration of sugar, acids, flavors and aromas when pressed. However, the yield is much lower than most wines, ten times more grapes are needed per bottle. The resulting wine has a high natural sugar content, a low alcohol content, an amazing acidity and is intensely sweet and tasty. The frozen Vidal grapes were harvested in mid-December, when temperatures ranged from -10 to -13 degrees. After settling the juice in stainless steel tanks, the cool fermentation was completed in mid-February, when the wine was placed outdoors to stop the fermentation and perform natural cold stabilization.

And what does the Lakeview Cellars Vidal Icewine taste like?

The Lakeview Vidal Icewine seduces with delicious aromas of lychee, pineapple, nectarine and freshly harvested citrus fruits. On the palate, it is multi-layered with a well-supporting and delicate acidity as the backbone. This is followed by an animating-sweet finish with a long reverberation. This fresh, lively ice wine from the Vidal grape variety should be served slightly chilled, at about 12 degrees Celsius.