Ice Wine: The Elusive Elixir That Starts With Frozen Grapes

Most winemakers who intend to produce ice wines leave some table wine grapes on the vine until the weather turns cold. If the grapes freeze—and survive—the long, challenging, and costly process of making the wine begins. KarepaStock/shutterstock

You'd think that the 2022 U.S. wine-grape harvest ended months ago, but curiously it’s now harvest time in a small number of northern hemisphere areas with conditions that couldn’t be stranger.

That’s the word out in northern Michigan, which a week ago experienced such cold weather (minus 7 degrees F on Jan. 31!) that any grapes left hanging on vines actually froze, giving winemakers a chance to make extraordinary wines.