WHAT IS EISWEIN?

Eiswein is produced from grapes which, when brought into the cellar for the crush, are frozen at less than minus 7 degrees Celsius and whose juice shows the minimum must weight or harvest sugar of a Beerenauslese wine. (It is not enough that the grapes were simply frozen at the time of the harvest!) They then generate wine with a very high sweetness and fruitiness and become distinctly, forcefully, and sometimes explosively high in tart acidity. Initially inside each grape only the water freezes, and it is then technically possible to separate pure ice crystals from the concentrated grape juice. When grapes are frozen in an unripened state, this causes the entire juice to freeze without segregating ice, and it is not possible to remove a fraction with a higher sugar concentration. It is also necessary that temperatures sufficiently below freezing occur, so that the grapes become frozen clear through, becoming hard as bullets.

To press these solidly-frozen grapes, you need very strong mechanical or hydraulic basket presses. Pneumatic presses are less suitable. In our house in 1995, a hydraulic press was specially restored from the era of 1920 for this purpose. The aforementioned press works very slowly and takes several hours (up to six hours) until the pressing is finsihed. The cellar master has tot take care that the press cake does not thaw more than a little or the sugar levels drop again.

Because of its later maturation and thick grapeskins, Riesling is the preferred type for Eiswein production. Our Eisweins are exclusively Riesling. A strong relationship exists between the temperature of the grapes (freezing point depression) and must sugar levels:

The very creation of the wine is as wonderful as the wine itself.

On the 20.12.2008 we had the first Ice wine night in the Palatinate. However, because of the weather forecast we decided to wait for one more night, to get grapes that were really frozen through. But come evening time, we were disillusioned; a sudden warm front was going to destroy our good intentions. The temperatures went up again and we had nearly called off the harvest. However in the morning hours of the 21.12.2008, the cold hand of fog and mist suddenly settled on our vineyard and made the impossible still possible.

Along with our team, we harvested an ice wine with a must weight of 190° Oe. This result and the quality produced are the reward and likewise the culmination of the 2007 vintage.