AP Photos In 16-degree weather on Jan. 3, Mazza Vineyards distiller Joe Nelson picks frozen vidal blanc grapes at one of Mazza’s vineyards near Cemetery Road in North East Township, which is near North East. Mazza Vineyards co-owner Bob Mazza expected his crew to pick about 225 crates of grapes Jan. 3 to make ice wine, a specialty dessert wine that requires grapes to be picked when temperatures are in the mid-teens. Overall, however, the weather this winter has not been cold enough for much of the harvest.

Vidal grapes hang on the vine covered in snow waiting to be harvested and pressed for ice wine in Branchport, N.Y. Winery and vineyard operators from Michigan to New York and parts of Canada have waited nervously for temperatures to get low enough to harvest the tender fruit.

AP Photo Crates of vidal blanc grapes wait to be picked up at a vineyard in North East Township, near North East.


TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Along with ski resort operators and snowmobile vendors, the unusually mild winter has been rough on makers of a cold-climate delicacy called ice wine.

The pricey dessert beverage, produced by wineries stretching from Minnesota through New York and in parts of Canada, is revered for its sweetness and often-syrupy texture. It comes from grapes that are picked and pressed while they’re still frozen, yielding precious drops of concentrated juice. Winemakers have waited nervously for temperatures to drop low enough to harvest the fruit.

Many were finally able to do so last week, thanks to a short-lived cold snap. But winery operators say the delay resulted in far fewer usable grapes.

“What’s ironic about the ice wine harvest is it’s one of the few times when people actually say, ‘Great, it’s going to be bitter cold,’” said Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation. “We were kind of twiddling our thumbs, but it finally came together.”

Grapes used in most wines from the Upper Midwest and the Northeast are harvested by late October or November. But some vineyard operators leave a small portion of their crop behind for another month or longer, hoping it will develop suitably for ice wine.

They acknowledge it’s a gamble.

Federal regulations prohibit using the “ice wine” label unless the product came from grapes that were at least partially frozen on the vine. That requires temperatures of roughly 17 degrees — the point at which water inside the fruit solidifies — or lower. When the largely dehydrated grapes are pressed, what emerges is the sugary portion of the juice. If all goes well, the treasured nectar is fermented and becomes high-quality ice wine.

But much can go wrong. The longer the harvest is delayed, the greater the risk that grapes will rot or shrivel past the point of usefulness. Some growers who have managed to harvest ice wine grapes say their yields were down by as much as 40 percent this year compared to a typical harvest.

Grapes left on the vine for extended periods also are more likely to be eaten by birds, deer, raccoons and other wildlife. Some growers shield the fruit with nets and install noisemaking devices, but the critters are resourceful.

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