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Ladies hot on icewines
By Nedra Wickremesinghe
For women, wine is very much like fashion. There’s absolutely no right or wrong. It’s all about discovering the tastes you love. Although, it’s well known in wine circles that most male wine enthusiasts act as though the subject of wine is their domain, it was pleasing to note that a well researched and carefully thought-out global marketing stratagem seeking a niche market found that their way to success was by pleasing the jet-setting and globe trotting woman traveller – especially the Asian woman.

And so did the saga begin not too long ago with the emergence of Inniskillin Icewine in Singapore duty free shops in 1998. By 2004, Inniskillin Icewine was rated as one of the best Icewines in the world – and topped the top 10 brands in the distribution ranking among champagne, sparkling, still and dessert wine. Japanese, Korean and Chinese women are their best customers. In a short time the global duty free sales of Icewine rose to be the No. 1 in the wine category and one of the 30 best-distributed lines in Duty Free.

Originally the Icewine was developed in the cool wine region of Germany in the mid-1700s. But the Inniskillin vineyard, better known as the “The Brae Burn Estate” situated in the Niagara region and the area around Lake Ontario has now won fame for this product. Inniskillin Icewines proudly boast of their handcrafted technique in vinification.

The grapes, naturally frozen on the vine, are delicately hand-picked throughout the night in the winter season. The frozen grapes are then manually loaded into the presses without de-stemming or crushing and pressed at a temperature of – 100 C or colder.

This technique produces only a fraction of the normal yield. During the pressing the natural water content in the grapes remains frozen while a few precious drops of silky sweet unadulterated liquid are extracted. The finished icewine is intensely sweet and flavourful, tasting of tropical fruits, with shadings of peach nectar, mango and pineapple.

It can be savoured with starters such as foie gras, or enjoyed with desserts, and drunk with hard cheese. For those who prefer to end up the evening on a sweet note Icewine is a delicious smooth after dinner drink. This is best served in a clear Bordeaux glass well chilled at 5- 7 0 C.

Icewine is winter’s gift to the wine lover: one of the best-kept secrets of the wine world. A major accolade was bestowed on Inniskillin 1989 Icewine at Vinexpo, Bordeaux in June 1991 when it won the fair’s highest award, Le Grand Prix d’Honneur.

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