HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Snow swirls thick and rough across the vineyard, and the wind violently slaps the grapes. Farmworkers and winemakers huddle together in the dark field at 5 a.m., relying on layers of flannel and goose down to keep warm as they slog through the thigh-deep snow.
Using the headlights of a nearby tractor to find his way, vintner Anthony Debevc stops at a cluster of grapes, yanks off his ski gloves and gently runs his fingers over the fruit. Each grape feels as hard as a marble.
"It's time to harvest!" Debevc shouts. "The grapes are ready!"
Unlike their peers in California, whose livelihood can be lost when the temperature plummets, a growing number of winemakers in the Midwest are leveraging their harsh winters into the flourishing business of ice wine, a sweet alcoholic beverage that relies on grapes freezing solid on the vine.
Ice wine, or Eiswein, is thought to have originated in Germany in the late 18th century, when monks tried to salvage their late-harvest grapes after an unexpected deep frost. They discovered that the cycle of freezing and thawing had concentrated the sugars and flavors of the fruit. Because the grapes had time to age and to slowly dehydrate, the fruit's sugar levels skyrocketed and its water content dropped. When the grapes were pressed, what little water remained had frozen, and was easily squeezed out and discarded.
The same process is used today. If the winemaker is lucky, each grape will give a single drop of golden, sugary juice.
"Where there is cold and there are grapes, there likely will be ice wine," said Bruce Sanderson, senior editor and tasting director for Wine Spectator magazine.
It's not clear whether ice wine sales are tracked in the U.S., because it's such a small part of the wine industry and because weather can play havoc with the supply. The Canadian province of Ontario consistently produces more ice wine than anywhere else, shipping its products to restaurants, specialty wine shops and grocery stores worldwide. Yet it only averages $30.7 million worth of ice wine each year, said Linda Watts, export and public relations coordinator for the Wine Council of Ontario.
Although a relatively small business, the specialty drink is gaining attention, Watts says.
The buzz started in the 1980s, when the industry migrated from Europe and into the Niagara region of southern Ontario. As operations ramped up there, winemakers in the United States began to take notice and set up their own operations in New York state, Washington state and, in recent years, the Midwest.
