WineAlign - Awards - 2022 NWAC Icewine and Late Harvest

Results of the 2022 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada (The Nationals)

Icewine & Late Harvest

Category Overview by judge Sara d’Amato

I once heard a story about a harpist who was playing one cold, dry winter’s day. Listening to the sound of her music, she missed the sound of a crack. The wood split and instrument exploded, launching a piece of her harp straight through her closed window. The string pressure on the harp was over 540 kg yet the harpist surprisingly survived this ordeal without a scratch. While a tragedy for the harp, it got me thinking about balance and tension, in particular the balance exhibited by a great wine.

(Jump straight to the medal winners.)

There is perhaps no greater winemaking challenge than to achieve this balance in Icewine, Canada’s greatest wine export. Like the serene sound emanating from a high-strung harp, a high-quality Icewine requires a tautness from acidity to balance its considerable degree of residual sugar. A lack of acidity makes for an uninteresting, cloying experience, syrup for your sundae. It is precisely that tension and freshness that we seek when judging Icewine. How much sugar is there exactly in Canadian Icewine? While the minimum requirements for VQA Icewine in Ontario and B.C. vary slightly, they are both quite high with 125 g/L and 100 g/L minimums required respectively but most range somewhere between 180-230 g/L (that last number is twice as sweet as most sodas on the market). Yet it’s not a mere measure of acidity vs. sweetness we look for, if so, we could do this by numbers without the need to taste. While the impression of viscosity is largely due to sweetness in Icewine, other contributing factors include alcohol and glycerol. In addition, we look for concentration, aromatic potency, varietal character, and debate over tolerable levels of volatile acidity that tend to be higher in sweet wines. Like the consideration of volatile acidity, a harpist may consider the amount and types of cracks that are acceptable in their instrument and if they might in fact contribute to a greater dimension of sound.

That same balance and considerations are respected in judging the other style of wine combined with these results, Late Harvest. What’s the difference you might ask between Icewine and Late Harvest? Within this competition, late harvest wine must be greater than 19 g/L of residual sugar to compete in the category. Unlike Icewine, Late Harvest does not have to be naturally frozen on the vine, harvested and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature remains at or below -8°C. It is a wine that has gained sugar and concentration naturally on the vine with longer hang time than a typical table wine. While Ontario dominated the Icewine category, B.C. showed strength with the presence of several impressive rieslings in the Late Harvest category that showed harmony, balance and verve.

A big congratulations to Inniskillin Niagara 2019 Riesling Icewine for winning the Best Icewine of the Year Award!

And the winners are…

Inniskillin Niagara 2019 Riesling Icewine, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

Inniskillin Niagara 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Inniskillin Niagara 2019 Gold Vidal Icewine, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Inniskillin Niagara 2019 Sparkling Cabernet Franc Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Lakeview Cellars 2019 Riesling Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Marynissen 2020 Sparkling Vidal Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Nk’Mip Cellars 2020 Qwam Qwmt Riesling Icewine, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Paradise Ranch 2020 Chardonnay Icewine, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Ravine Vineyard 2020 Botrytis Affected Riesling, St. David’s Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Trius 2019 Showcase Cabernet Franc Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Whistler 2020 Riesling Icewine, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Whistler 2020 Viognier Icewine, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

Jackson-Triggs Niagara 2019 Reserve Cabernet Franc Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Peller Estates Niagara 2019 Cabernet Franc Icewine, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Stratus 2020 Riesling Icewine, Niagara Lakeshore, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario
Tawse 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario