Mild weather threatens Canada's ice wine harvest

The ice wine harvest in Canada is the latest victim of the effects of global warming. The unseasonably mild weather across the country is threatening the vintage of this sweet, dessert-style wine. Producers need sub-zero temperatures to enable the grapes to be harvested and pressed while frozen, which concentrates the sweetness and acidity of them. However, December, when ice wine grapes are usually harvested, saw temperatures hovering above zero around Ontario and other parts of Canada, when ideally they needed to be -8°C. Only British Columbia had a cold enough spell to allow the wineries there to pick frozen grapes. For producers in the rest of the country, it is a waiting game because, if January doesn’t bring icy temperatures, they won’t be able to make any ice wine this year. Unfortunately for them, and for fans of this expensive wine, current forecasts don’t look promising.