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Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Summerhill Pyramid Winery Icewine 2013
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Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Summerhill Pyramid Winery Icewine 2013
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Summerhill Pyramid Winery
Summerhill Pyramid Winery Icewine picking 2013
Summerhill Pyramid Winery -Icewine pickers bundled up to pick frozen grapes.
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Tantalus Vineyards
Harvesting Icewine at Tantalus 2013
Pickers were up at 4:30 a.m. picking off the frozen berries in the Tantalus vineyards.
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Photo Submitted
Crushing the Icy Grapes At Stoneboat
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Sweet Grapes in the Snow
Icy grapes prior to harvest at Quail's Gate.
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Tinhorn Creek.
Icewine grapes by flashlight
Grapes and foliage lit up by the early morning sun.
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Tinhorn Creek
Tinhorn vineyard at night.
Headlamps and flashlights illuminate the Tinhorn Creek vineyards during the 2013 icewine harvest.
Could the 2013 vintage set a new record for Okanagan ice wine? It’s starting to look that way, as the BC Wine Institute estimates the harvest could hit 1,000 tons this year.
The bumper crop of frozen grapes comes courtesy of a sudden cold snap on November 20. The mercury plunged to below -8 and stayed there for two solid days. That allowed growers to get their entire harvest off the vines and crushed.
This was also the third earliest icewine harvest on record, so there was very little spoilage on the vine.
The BC Wine Institute says 29 wineries are expected to produce icewine this year.
First Icewine grapes were brought in by Little Straw Vineyards in West Kelowna on Wednesday, November 20 just before 7 AM with temperatures at -10°C (14°F). Owner/Winemaker Pete Slamka reports that the overall quality is very good with very sweet, honeyed characters.
Volcanic Hills Estate Winery in West Kelowna also completed their harvest on Wednesday, November 20 starting at 7:30 PM with the temperatures at -9°C (15.8°F). Proprietor Bobby Gidda notes that they brought in 3.7 tons of Riesling first, followed by Zweigelt and Chardonnay.
Two hours later Summerhill started their Icewine harvest. Temperatures ranged from -9°C (15.8°F) to -12°C (10.4°F) in their four vineyards. Their team harvested a portion of their Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zweigelt over two days.
"To make superb Icewine, the first thing you need is superb grapes,” says Summerhill CEO Ezra Cipes. “The Okanagan Valley is singularly blessed because not only have we had a growing season that produced perfect grapes, but we had the temperatures that froze our grapes on the vine to produce this delicious nectar. It's perfection in a glass."
Jackson-Triggs Okanagan Estate and Inniskillin Okanagan also harvested overnight in Oliver, starting at 12:45 AM at -10°C (14°F) and reaching lows of -12°C (10.4°F) by 4:45 AM.
Each winery brought in seven tons of Riesling from the Whitetail Vineyard. "Picking exceptionally early like this is icing on the cake for what has been a stellar year,” said Troy Osborne, Director of Western Viticulture for Constellation Brands Canada. “A hot dry summer combined with this earlier than normal arctic outflow has given us Icewine grapes in outstanding condition," said "An added benefit from harvesting Icewine in November is the nice quantity, as we don't lose nearly as much to wildlife and birds."
To keep up-to-date on the harvest, follow @winebcdotcom, #BCHarvest2013 and #Icewine on Twitter.