Traditionally Icewine harvests take place in the dead of night. Light by the glow of the moon (and perhaps a few mega watt bulbs) brave picking teams free themselves from their comfortable beds to capture the grapes at their optimal time. Why so late? Are the pickers just gluttons for punishment, looking to push an already extremely arduous task to it's very limit? Well maybe, but the real reason is that the late night temperatures are when the grapes are at their best for picking. They need to be cold, at least -8 degrees Celsius, but the colder the better. The colder the grapes, the higher the concentration of juice, creating sweet and flavourful wines.
But this year, we're capping off a truly bizarre growing season. This marks one of the shortest turn around between wine harvest and Icewine harvest at just a few short weeks! And not only is the 2010 Icewine harvest one of the earliest on record (the earliest coming in 2003) but it was so cold, the harvest happened in the light of day! So with the temperature starting out around -17 Celsius in Naramata and reaching a balmy -13 in the afternoon, our brave troops headed out to do battle with the elements.
Photos from winemaker Wade Stark have been flowing in from the fields all afternoon and we couldn't wait to share.
Riesling grapes ready to be picked:
Wade Stark's first full pail of Riesling:
Added to the growing bucket..
Wade braving the elements and bringing in the fruit:
Later that night back at the winery, a freshly filled bucket of Vidal grapes will stay outside overnight, no need for refrigeration!
