When someone talks about icewine, you think of ice-cold nights when the grapes freeze on the vines, which are harvested at night or early in the morning. From this, the must is pressed, which not only has high sugar but also a lot of fruit, extract and acidity and which after itsfermenation will be a icewine.
But what to do if such cold nights are missing, such as in the Spanish wine-growing area of Penedès, where even in the coldest January nights, the thermometer falls below the zero degree limit only very rarely?
The winery Gramona also asked this question. Located in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia since 1850, the well-known winery that cultivates more than 150 hectares with organic viticulture and biodynamics has solved this question since it is producing icewines since 1997. For this purpose, the harvested grapes are cooled to about + 5 ° C and then frozen with the aid of liquid nitrogen in special cold chambers at about -6 ° C to -8 ° C. The pressed must then is fermented in 300-liter barrels for two months.
Now, with this type of “artificial” freezing of grapes, it is also possible to influence the sugar content of the must. However, the rules of the PDO (Denominación de Origen Protegida) Penedès specify a minimum sugar content of the harvested grapes of 240 g / l for a Vino de licor, an alcohol-enriched wine, produced using the above mentioned cooling method. However, no minimum sugar content is specified for the production of a Vino Naturalmente Dulce. This is a wine like the tasted Vi de Glass Gewürztraminer 2015 from Gramona, a wine where alcohol and sugar are totally derived from the grape’s sugar.
Vi de Glass Gewürztraminer 2015, Gramona (Tasted Wines)
Pale straw yellow with green reflections. In the nose citrus, tropical fruit as well as woody and firn notes. Good acidity on the palate, backed by some notes of wood, citrus, green apple, delicate passion fruit and hints of mango. Beautiful, very long finish in which the acidity, as well as slightly firn-woody notes dominate the fruity parts a bit. Very good wine.