Welcome for the last time this semester, dear readers, to the weekly wine column. As some of you may know, I will be traveling abroad to Egypt next semester where the wine is noted for being non-potable. However, I will do a bunch of wines over vacation so you are not left in the dark as to what to drink.
This week, I'm looking at a couple of fun things I've collected over the semester but haven't gotten around to drinking yet. Three of the below wines are ice wine so here's a little info on ice wine. Ice wines are made from grapes (or fruit) that were allowed to ripen on the vine until after the first deep frost. This allows the water to evaporate, leaving the grape with higher sugar content. This in turn makes the wine both very sweet and more potent.
Ice wines must be made in places where it gets cold early, like Canada where the best ice wine worldwide is produced. Ice wine is normally served chilled in small glasses as an after dinner liqueur. It tends to pair well with cheeses and chocolate. Because this is rather difficult to make, the wine only comes in half bottles and tends to be tres expensive.
1. Rodrigues 2002 Strawberry Iced Wine
I bought this not really expecting it to be very good, but it was pink and one hundred percent strawberry so I thought I'd take a crack at it. So I drank it chilled and in a rather larger quantity than one normally drinks ice wine. I found it to not really taste like strawberry, but it was rather cold. My fellow taster really enjoyed the wine declaring it sweet and delicious. I don't think I agree, but no big. I would consider using it to make an interesting cocktail thing though. $10.99 at a random liquor store in Jamaica Plains.
2. Kittling Ridge Estates Ice Wine and Brandy
This is a great little wine that tastes like honey and raisins. Some of my tasters couldn't believe it was so sweet, saying it tasted like candy and/or ginger ale concentrate. However, everyone rather enjoyed our sippables. It's nice and the brandy does mellow out the sweetness a bit. $28 Canadian at one of the state run liquor stores.
3. Trius 2002 Vidal Ice Wine
My tasters and I were rather split on the taste of this one. We had two votes for Welch's white grape and apple juice, two votes for figs and one for just plain sweet. This is a beautiful wine that we drank appropriately chilled, and it was very nice as a cool finish to the evening. I highly recommend this one. However, the price tag is steep. $45.95 plus shipping from winecountryathome.com.
4. Aussie Wine 2002 Cabernet Shiraz
We all know the ills of wine in a box, but how does it compare with wine in a can? Well, to be honest it's about the same, but here's the upside. It comes in skinny sexy cans that look like all those energy drinks. So, you can put in your inner jacket pocket and no one will be the wiser. $10 for a four pack at the N.H. liquor store.