A German term meaning “ice wine,” referring to a rich, flavorful DESSERT WINE. Eiswein is made by picking grapes that are frozen on the vine and then pressing them before they thaw. Because much of the water in the grapes is frozen, the resulting juice is concentrated—rich in flavor and high in sugar and ACIDITY. The resulting wines, although different than Germany’s famous BEERENAUSLESEN and TROCKENBEERENAUSLESEN, are similarly extraordinarily sweet, yet balanced by high acidity. Eiswein is an excellent candidate for long AGING. In 1982, Eiswein became one of the six subcategories of QUALITÄTSWEIN MIT PRÄDIKAT. In order to thus qualify, a wine’s MUST needs to reach the minimum natural sugar levels of BEERENAUSLESE category wines—110 to 128° OECHSLE (approximately 26 to 30 percent sugar by weight), depending on the region and the variety. AUSTRIA has an Eiswein category that’s similar and requires a minimum 127° OECHSLE. Eiswein is a specialty of Canada (where it’s spelled “icewine”), whose cold weather produces excellent examples of this specialty. In fact, Canadians now produce more Eiswein than Germany, and has VQA regulations that define the sugar content required for this designation to be used on labels. Other cold weather areas, such as the more northern of the United States, are now also producing Eisweins.