The "Icewine" sign can be seen everywhere in Canada, and its popularity is comparable to China's Shaxian snacks!

Icewine is a sweet wine, which is the national drink of Canada, has won many international wine competitions, and is loved by many celebrities, such as former US President Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II.

It is a wine made from grapes that are naturally frozen on the vine at a temperature below minus 8 °C, the grapes are picked and pressed when they are frozen into a solid state, and the outside temperature must be kept below minus 8 °C during the pressing process, and the excess water is removed due to the formation of ice crystals, and only a small amount of concentrated grape juice flows out, which is slowly fermented and bottled after 7 months, so ice wine is also a concentrated essence.

Icewine has a long history, and its brewing began to circulate more than 200 years ago after it was accidentally discovered in Europe. Canadian icewine brewing technology was brought to Canada by German immigrants and further improved, mainly making white ice wine and red ice wine. Canada's first icewine was Watt in British Columbia? 1974 Riesling Icewine from Hähenle Winery.

The first production of ice wine in Ontario was in 1982, in the vast cold Canada, the vineyards producing ice wine are almost all crowded on the narrow Niagara Peninsula between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

Not all frozen ordinary can be used to make ice wine, ice wine brewing is extremely strict geographical and climatic requirements, high latitude, low temperature, winter is completely cold, but other seasons must be warm enough, so only a few countries in the world located at about 41 degrees north latitude can produce ice wine, Canada has four wine regions, of which Ontario is the most outstanding.

The beautiful province of Ontario has a climate and terroir that is particularly suitable for growing grapes. The region is close to the Okanagan Desert, where the growing season has a large temperature difference between day and night, a large amount of sugar, and a cold climate when ripe. It is conducive to the natural concentration and freezing of grapes, and it is not easy to rot.

For example, the ice wine made in Okanagan is the best in Canada and the world, and in terms of ice wine, the ice wine produced in the whole of Ontario is concerned. It accounts for 30 percent of Canada's share.

Although it is very popular, the price of ice wine in Canada is still quite expensive, in China, the market price is generally more than 500 yuan, some thousands or even thousands of yuan, in Canada, it is nearly 80 Canadian dollars, if it is in a bar, a small glass of ice wine costs 20 Canadian dollars.

But despite this, it is also expensive for a reason. In terms of the amount of grape raw material used, icewine is made about 20 times more than ordinary wine. Canadian Icewine has a special VQA certification, and there are strict requirements for every step of the brewing process. Usually 8-10 kg of grapes can make 1 bottle of 375ml ice wine, while ordinary only 1 kg of grapes can make 1 bottle of 750ml. The vineyards need to be protected against birds and hail, and ice grapes are often harvested by hand in the cold of winter, and work in the middle of the night, which is also very costly.

Moreover, ice wine can only be brewed in only a few countries in the world, and the risk of winemaking is very high, and the yield is also very low, so it is a problem for local people to drink. Not to mention exporting, in Germany and Austria, it sometimes takes only three to four years to produce icewine, and the global annual production is only about 2,000 tons. And there are even fewer real ice wines entering the Chinese market.

Some people say that the birth of ice wine was a beautiful mistake. Two hundred years ago, in Germany, vineyards were hit by a sudden frost. In order to save the loss, the winegrowers had to make a mistake by pressing the frozen grapes and fermenting them in the traditional way. Behold. Unintentionally planted willows and willows into the shade, resulting in a full-bodied, unique flavor wine, resulting in the advent of ice wine. It is said that only a few places in the world, such as Austria, Germany, and Canada, can produce high-quality ice wine when the temperature, climate, and other conditions are in harmony. Due to the unique production method and the scarcity of production, it is only natural that it is expensive. According to the determination of relevant experts, the nutritional composition of ice wine contains almost dozens of enzymes and amino acids necessary for the human body, and has the functions of beauty, beauty, health care, etc., and is a rare and excellent wine.

A quote from one vineyard owner sums up the hardships of the production process and the preciousness of ice wine in the market: "All vineyard owners pray for the frost to fall in late autumn every year as if they were looking forward to love, and the number of people who can taste real ice wine is as rare as the number of people who can get real love." ”

Sit

The booths in this bar are a bit similar to the private rooms, distributed on both sides of the hall, in a semi-enclosed structure, with sofas and tables, the booths are for a large group of customers, and the bar, the kind of bartending place, is more suitable for Sikong Yao and Roman Monet, where there are only no more than four people.

The bartender took the unopened bottle out of the ice bucket, since the name has a word, the temperature suitable for drinking is also relatively low, 4~10 degrees is the appropriate drinking temperature of ice wine.

The bartender dances the flask quickly, mixing the ice wine and the orange sparkling wine together, because it is a sweet wine shape, so it also uses a small sweet wine glass, take a white wine glass with a capacity of only 98 ml, pour 1/2 of the glass, and then pour in the transparent lime flavored sparkling wine, and you are done.

Sikong Yao carefully looked at the glass of ice wine in front of him, tasting wine is definitely not to enjoy the impact of alcohol, tasting it well, it is also a kind of doorway.

For example, if you have a cocktail, the first thing is to look at the color, that is, to observe the color and clarity of the wine, white ice wine will generally show a deep amber or golden yellow, while red ice wine will often be ruby red and deep red nickel, this glass, because of the addition of clear and lime sparkling wine, so the color is more like a bright sunny yellow, like citrine shining in the light.

Then it's time to smell the wine again, gently shake the glass, and feel the aroma of the ice wine. Icewine has a unique flavor characteristics, it is extremely balanced in sweetness and acidity, sweet and mellow, refreshing in taste, often with the aroma of ripe pears, peaches, mangoes and flowers, but also with a rich aroma of honey, almonds and dried fruits, rich and delicate, not high in alcohol, suitable for drinking alone, but also with fresh fruits, fresh cheese, cakes and other desserts to produce a good pairing.

Someone once put it this way: "Icewine will become the heroin of wine".

As soon as the ice wine was in his mouth, Sikong Yao's tongue danced with a waltz that combined the aromas of apple, vanilla soda, raisins, pepper and ginger, and the perfect acidity of the lime sparkling wine ensured the wine's refreshing and lingering taste.

Pleasant, luscious and fragrant ice wine must be a rare and wonderful experience for many wine lovers. As long as you are not an alcohol-averse person, taste its ice wine, the first sip, such as being in heaven, the second sip, as if flying in the clouds, the third sip, the soul will be purified, and when you come back to your senses, you have actually finished drinking, but you still have an endless aftertaste.

Sikong Yao seemed to feel that his whole body was bathed in the aroma of white grapes, as if he had become one with Ontario, which produced ice wine.

What Roman Monet wants in his heart is a cold beer that can soothe the muscles and lactic acid, like the petty bourgeois flavored wine that Sikong Yao likes, although he does not reject it, he can't look down on it, in his philosophy, only beer is a man's favorite.

In Canada, when it comes to beer, no one will tell you about a brand other than Molson.

Even if someone tells you that the best drink is Coorslight, it's just one of Molson's brands.

Coorslight is quite an interesting beer brand, they even provide special cups for all bars in Canada, the beer cups are painted with a snowy mountain, and their logo is somehow printed, when not filled with wine, this snow-capped mountain is white, but if you add wine to the glass, then this snowy mountain will change color in the cold, and from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain at a time, until the top of the Rocky Mountain turns blue, then this glass of Coorslight is cold enough and tasteful.

Romain Monet has been coveting this coorslight beer for a long time, and without hesitation, he came to two large glasses, which are refreshing and refreshing, and it is definitely not too much to drink 280 ml in one go.

Sikong Yao watched Roman Monet grunt and drank a whole glass of beer, which was a full 280 ml, and said with a little disdain: "It's life or death to let you eat something, how can you drink beer so unscrupulously, what can you do if you have a beer belly?" ”

Romain Monet patted his belly, which was a little fat because of his age, in fact, this had nothing to do with him as a pastry chef, but he said disapprenously: "Then you have to drink it, the beer has to be poured like this in one breath to bring a feeling." ”

Sikong Yao is like him, everyone has their own preferences, such as Roman Monet's rude approach, she can't learn it, but the coorslight iceberg trademark makes her very curious.

Canadian bars don't have the same smoky miasma as China's, there are no messy drum beats and heart-pounding disco music, and the lighting here is quite soft and not dazzling, and you can spend an afternoon quietly with a glass of ice wine, and the other guests will not make a loud noise, and everyone will enjoy a drink and chat in their booths, neither noisy nor noisy. (To be continued.) )