The temperature drops below freezing, reaching -10 to -12 degrees Celsius. The sky is clear, and the moon and snow are the only sources of light until dawn begins to break. In the silence of the ice-covered vineyards, the harvest begins. Each night, the grape picking must be completed by 7 a.m., followed by the pressing of the grapes, done slowly to avoid warming them.
Thus begins the magical process of producing Ice Wine, a wine made from frozen grapes.
The most widely accepted theory about the origin of Ice Wine dates back to 1794 in Germany when a harsh winter forced vintners in Wurzburg, Bavaria, to harvest frozen grapes to salvage their earnings. The surprising result marked the beginning of a specialized winemaking process that continued in subsequent years. Others trace the origin of Eiswein to 1829 in the district of Dromersheim in southwest Germany, under similar circumstances.
Today, the most active producers of Ice Wine are Canada, Austria, and Germany. Italy also offers examples of Ice Wine from regions like Valle d’Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, and even Emilia-Romagna. However, the pioneer of Ice Wine production in Italy was Natale Simonetta, a visionary winemaker from Piedmont, with his Cascina Baricchi in Neviglie, in the province of Cuneo.
It all began in 1995, following a ten-day experience in Austria at Alois Kracher’s winery, where Simonetta participated in a harvest from late November to early December. “They were producing Ice Wine there. It was like a study trip, and when I returned, I started working on my version,” recounts the winemaker, now 51, who continues to manage the business founded in 1989 by his father, originally from Varese but driven by his passion for Barbaresco to move to Piedmont.
“I’ve always found Moscato to be one of the most important white grape varieties in the world. So I chose these grapes to begin experimenting.” The first bottle came out in 1999. Named Solenne, it is a noble Ice Wine with a name encapsulating the concepts of sun and moon. “For its richness, it seemed like a wine from the south; it was hard to imagine it as a wine of the night and the cold,” he explains. The harvest begins around 3 a.m. when the temperature drops between -5 and -12 degrees Celsius.
The completely frozen grapes are slowly picked and brought to an outdoor press, also frozen, by 7 a.m. “The press,” explains Simonetta, “breaks the ice capsules formed within the grapes. The cold from the outside freezes the water inside, concentrating the sugars, aromas, acids, and minerals in the pulp. When these ice crystals are broken during pressing, a dense nectar emerges. This extract is filtered in sackcloth to produce a super-concentrated liquid, incredibly dense, aromatic, and sweet.”
Each evening, the process starts anew, “after sterilizing all the equipment, as mold or botrytis often forms on the grapes, and only if the sky is clear.” The must is then placed in steel containers and transferred in spring to begin aging. “I’ve always blended wood and steel aging depending on the season and the must we obtain.”
Simonetta’s vision extended even further. In 2000, during the peak popularity of still sweet wines, he took a new direction by combining Ice Wine with sparkling wines. “Being forward-thinking doesn’t mean finding a commercial shortcut to please the market but looking within yourself to find what truly fulfills you.” A staunch advocate for Moscato grapes as a base for excellent-quality wines rather than industrial products, Simonetta, with a background in Champagne production, set aside the production of Solenne and began crafting sparkling wines.
“Ice Wine was a lofty concept that distracted from the grapes. I wanted to highlight our flagship variety,” he continues. “When a bottle of sparkling Moscato is opened, it’s always a moment of celebration: a birthday, Christmas, Easter. So I thought of enhancing the quality of Moscato with Ice Wine.”
In 2010, Simonetta produced the first bottle of Regina di Felicità, dedicated to his mother Ermide, who also appears on the label. This niche production of 10,000 to 13,000 bottles is sold worldwide. “It’s a sweet sparkling wine made of 70% Ice Wine,” he specifies, “a cuvée of three different vintages and 30% fresh must from the latest harvest. The next release will feature a cuvée from the 2010, 2011, and 2013 vintages with must from 2019.”
Though his earliest experiments used the traditional method, Simonetta soon opted for a “very long” Charmat method. “This wine spends 20-22 months in contact with its lees, reaching five and a half atmospheres in a chilled autoclave at -4 degrees Celsius. The lees are stirred weekly, breaking down to release a natural antioxidant and enhance the myriad aromas Moscato contains. I use the same technique as the traditional method but ferment in a long Charmat process instead of in bottles.
This sparkling wine has 150-170 grams of residual sugar but maintains 10% acidity. It’s a balanced wine where aromas range from chamomile and apricots to canned peaches, mango, passion fruit, honey, and star anise.”
