NOT SINCE NEW Zealand hijacked the Sauvignon Blanc grape has one country so successfully dominated the international market with a wine style.
Eiswein is a German invention that dates back to the late 18th century when a freak drop in temperature froze the Late Harvest grapes in Franconia before they could be picked.
Today true vine-frozen Icewine (Eiswein) is made in many countries, but it is Canada that has co-opted Icewine and made it its own.
The date when the wine world first became aware of the product was June 1991.
The place: Vinexpo in Bordeaux. Inniskillin Vidal 1989 won the Prix d’honneur in that year’s Challenge Internationale du Vin competition. Since then, Icewines from Ontario and British Columbia have been winning gold medals in virtually every competition.
Although Icewine accounts for only six percent of Canadian wine production, it is the industry’s most celebrated wine.
The success of Canadian Icewine in the Chinese market has created twin challenges for the industry: the emergence of locally produced Icewine and counterfeit products.
In the fall of 2007, China’s Tonghua Grape Wine Co. purchased a 75 per cent stake for $7.1 million in an Ontario wine company that specializes in Icewine production. And three Chinese companies have begun to make Icewine in China. But the most immediate threat to Canada’s supremacy are the knock-off products.
Vincent Hanna, vicepresident of Peter Igel Wines & Spirits, a Toronto-based company that deals in bulk wines, was in China on business in September 2007.
He visited 14 stores in Shanghai, and in every one he found fake Icewine. Not only are Canadian vintners losing revenue, but the quality of the knock-offs is harming the reputation of the wine.
Ontario’s Pillitteri Estates is one of the world’s largest exporters of Icewine with 90 per cent of its production (38,000 cases of 4.5 litres) going to export markets, mainly in Asia. Its exasperated proprietor, Charlie Pillitteri, says, “Imitation is the highest form of flattery, but people are making Icewine in their garage and selling it in China. It’s ridiculous.”
Despite unscrupulous producers of fakes made in basements in Toronto and Vancouver and the looming threat of enormous Chinese production, Icewine is an economic boon to the Canadian wine industry.
When Canadians travel abroad, they are more likely to take Icewine as gifts than maple syrup.
Post City Magazines’ wine columnist, Tony Aspler, has written 14 books on wine and food. Tony also created the Ontario Wine Awards. He can be heard on 680News.