Guest Post – Queen of the Ice Wine: South River Vineyards and the Ice Wine Festival

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Kate Galo

I came to the sad conclusion a while ago that I’m incapable of exploring everything in Northeast Ohio. Case in point, I was really disappointed to have to miss the Geneva Ice Wine Festival this past weekend (and the coming weekend since I’m going to be in Chicago for this). Fortunately, Clue Into Cleveland guest contributor Kate Galo was happy enough to enjoy a day of wine tasting for me. Enjoy her writeup of the experience and be sure to check out the Ice Wine Festival this Saturday, March 19th (your last chance this year!).

 

I find that there are certain proposals that could be made to me that I will always say yes to.  Would I like to bring some food to a dinner party?  Would I mind asking that embarrassing question so my friend doesn’t have to?  Would I like to go drink some wine?

The answer will always be an emphatic YES.  So when Clue Into Cleveland was asked if we’d like to go to South River Vineyard and maybe try some ice wine, I said YES.  (And maybe threatened to knock Amanda and Elizabeth out of the way so I could go.)  I was already planning on making my way to Geneva and had no problem with visiting South River Vineyard first!

I learned from Gene Sigel, owner of South River Vineyard, that this is the 8^th year of the Ice Wine Festival for the various wineries around Geneva and Ashtabula, and that the three weekends in March are some of the busiest times of their year.  He chalks it up to cabin fever, and I agree with him, but I’d also say it has something to do with the fact that ice wine is delicious and sweet and gives you a feeling of doing something special in the end of winter when last weekend you were wearing 5 layers of clothing in your house and debating whether or not you could stand to get out from under the blanket to feed your stupid pets.

Gene Sigel of South River using a wine thief to draw wine from a barrel.

Learning more about ice wine just highlighted how little I know about wine making, and chemistry in general.  Ice wine is a specialty in places like Northeast Ohio since it needs to b 18 degrees Fahrenheit for the grapes to freeze, the grapes have to picked (sometimes by hand!) when they’re frozen, and pressed when they’re frozen in a giant bucket press.  If the grapes get warm, they get squishy (technical term), and then the chemistry changes and the kind of wine changes.  South River picked their grapes last December and made a Concord Ice and a Blush Ice wine.  The Blush Ice wine is fantastic!  Not too syrupy or overly sweet, it was clear and sweet and had very clear cherry and berry and lilac aromas.  The Concord Ice was very “jammy” as Gene put it, and he’s right – it was as if I had taken a bite of homemade grape jam.

First Runner-up Amanda Wight, Ice Wine Queen Stephy Gorgeny, Second Runner-up Sara Galbreath

 

 

To read the full blog: Please visit CLUE INTO CLEVELAND

About the Guest Author: Kate Galo
Long long ago, Kate Galo was a professional blogger at the now-defunct BloggingOhio.com.  Her writing style has vastly improved over the years, and she’s excited to sharing her thoughts about this city with the loyal readers at Clue Into Cleveland!