Wine producers were able to pick ice wine during the past few nights in most wine-growing areas in Germany.

As reported by the German Wine Institute (Deutsches Weininstitut - DWI), significant quantities of frozen grapes were harvested in the night from the 18th to the 19th of December. For example, the wine co-operatives in Durbach and Jechtingen in Baden brought in 1.500 litres of Riesling and 1.200 litres of Pinot Noir ice wine, with a must weight of around 150 degrees Oechsle/ 30° Balling/Brix. Others who succeeded in bringing in Riesling ice wine were the Allendorf estate in the Rheingau and the Dönnhoff estate on the Nahe. In Franken, the Schwab estate in Thüngersheim harvested Kerner grapes at a remarkable 182 degrees Oechsle/ 36° Brix. The Weinreporter also reports that the Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt estate on the Mosel brought in some ice wine.

The 2006 vintage saw only minuscule amounts of ice wine being produced in all German wine regions, now there is hope that the yield may be a little larger in the 2007 vintage: it is expected that wine growers and their assistants will be swarming out again in the hours to come, as the cold weather prevails in Germany. "Based on the vintage characteristics, with quite large yields all round, there was an increased readiness to accept the risk of ice wine production in 2007", says DWI general manageress Monika Reule. (WF)