Ice wine is made from grapes that have literally frozen on the vine. As soon as the grapes are frozen, a horde of workers have to go pick the grapes–usually in the dark!–and then the grapes are pressed when they are still frozen.
Imagine trying to pick grapes inside your freezer in the pitch dark. Now add a slipper surface and you’ve just about got the conditions right. Picking the frozen grapes for ice wine is not for the delicate. In fact, if you’re not part polar bear and part goat, this is definitely not the job for you.
Ice wine most likely originated in Germany in the late 1700’s, when after a particularly cold winter, vineyard owners were forced to try to make wine out of frozen grapes. They realized that the freezing temperatures intensified the sugar but kept the acidity high. The resulting sweet wine was a beautiful pleasure to taste. Thus, eiswein was born.
Ice wine can only be made in cold climates for obvious reasons. The countries that produce most of the ice wine in the world are Canada, Germany, Austria and the US.
When you buy a bottle of ice wine, you may spend a small fortune for a tiny bottle of this liquid gold. In fact, you’ll typically spend $30-$50 for a 375 ml bottle. When I open a bottle of ice wine, I have every drop planned–who am I going to share it with and what I am going to pair it with.
One of my favorite pairings is ice wine with a rose apple tart. This tart is barely sweet with no added sugar. This natural sugar in the baked apples pairs perfectly with the intense sweetness of the ice wine. I didn’t create this recipe, but I’ve seen it on a variety of websites. The only modification I make is to use “no sugar added” jam in order to keep the sugar content as low as possible. This will make the very best pairing with the ice wine. I also prefer using fig jam rather than the typical apricot jam used in other recipes, as I think it pairs better with the ice wine.
Apple Rose Tart Recipe
2 crisp apples with pink or red skin (such as Pink Lady or Gala)
1/2 lemon
4 Tbsp. apricot or fig jam, no sugar added
1 Tbsp. water
Cinnamon
Thaw puff pastry at room temperature for 45-60 minutes.
Mix jam and water in a small bowl and set aside. Heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until easy to spready.
Slice apple into paper-thin slices, removing core but leaving the skin for color. The apples need to be extremely fresh and crisp or you won’t be able to slice them thinly enough, and they won’t roll well. Place the apple slices in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with water. Add juice from half a lemon and microwave for 2-3 minutes on high until the apples are soft but not cooked. Drain and pat dry.
Lightly flour a pastry board and roll out dough. Cut into 6 equal strips that are about 2″ wide by 9″ long. Using a light hand, cover the top of the dough strip with the jam mixture. Place apples on the top half of each dough strip in an overlapping fashion, so 2/3 of the apple slice is on the pastry and 1/3 (with the red skin) is above the pastry. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and then fold the bottom portion of dough on top of the apple-covered top portion. Pinch the ends together and roll into a tight spiral.
Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Place each spiral pastry into a muffin well. Take at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes until the top of the pastry is golden brown. Let cool, and then serve with cold ice wine.
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