Cold temperatures equal good ice wine
It's been a great start to 2005 for wine makers in the Okanagan Valley.
Temperatures in the region fell to around -10 degrees overnight for the first two days of the year.
Several wineries have brought in their ice wine grapes, and the harvest said to be among the best in the past decade.
- LINK: B.C. Wine Institute
This year marks the the 10th ice wine crop for the St. Hubertus Winery in Kelowna.
Vintner Andy Gebert says friends and neighbours brought in some of the best ice wine grapes he's seen.
"Quality-wise it's still very early to say, but the technical components, the sugars, the acidity of it it is excellent, and the flavour is also there.
"Now, of course, it goes into the wine making process and we'll have to be very gentle with it to preserve all the flavour. But so far, I am very, very excited."
Ice wine comprises a very small portion of the crop for most wineries in B.C., but the wine sells for very high prices in North America and Europe.