# Faux Ice Wine



## jet (Sep 19, 2010)

I'm starting a batch of faux ice wine, as outlined in Home Winemaking Step-by-Step by Iverson. I've recorded the prep in my blog. The chardonel grapes are not late harvest, but I still have high hopes. I have since added some medium toast French oak beans and pitched the K1V yeast. I have it in the garage, which is warmer than the house, until the yeast takes hold. I'm planning on fermenting at room temp because of the more difficult conditions for the yeast (I would normally ferment K1V in the low 50's).

Has anyone done anything like this before? Any advice?


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## countrygirl (Sep 19, 2010)

tell us a little more about the "faux" part. what is the normal brix for late harvests?


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## jet (Sep 20, 2010)

The one commercial ice wine that I have lists the starting brix of the grapes as 37°. I have a couple of late harvest chardonels, and they show 34°.

My chardonel grapes were not late harvest, and they started with a SG of 1.083. When thawing the frozen juice, the SG was way above the scale on my hydrometer for hours. This is because water has a higher melting point and melts more slowly, which is what causes the SG to be so high. The longer it goes, the more of the water that melts. I just kept checking the SG until it was where I wanted it to be.


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## countrygirl (Sep 20, 2010)

jet said:


> The one commercial ice wine that I have lists the starting brix of the grapes as 37°. I have a couple of late harvest chardonels, and they show 34°.
> 
> My chardonel grapes were not late harvest, and they started with a SG of 1.083. When thawing the frozen juice, the SG was way above the scale on my hydrometer for hours. This is because water has a higher melting point and melts more slowly, which is what causes the SG to be so high. The longer it goes, the more of the water that melts. I just kept checking the SG until it was where I wanted it to be.



cool jet! the brix on my chardonel was 23 and i thought they were pretty darn sweet and sticky. i did try st. francois' late harvest chardonel and it was yummy. the color was much more golden than a typical white wine, also. keep us updated!


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## jet (Sep 20, 2010)

I actually have a bottle of that St Francois late harvest. The label lists 34° brix at harvest and 12° residual. FWIW, the guy said it was actually an ice wine, just not labeled as such.


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## Runningwolf (Sep 20, 2010)

I did Late Harvest Vidal and the brix was 44.


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## jet (Sep 20, 2010)

Runningwolf said:


> I did Late Harvest Vidal and the brix was 44.



I was shooting for a SG of 1.16, simply because that's the highest mark on my hydrometer.


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## Runningwolf (Sep 20, 2010)

jet said:


> I was shooting for a SG of 1.16, simply because that's the highest mark on my hydrometer.



You can take equal amounts of must and water to get a reading. Then double it.


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## jet (Sep 21, 2010)

Runningwolf said:


> You can take equal amounts of must and water to get a reading. Then double it.


Where were you last week? 

But seriously, that's a good idea. I'll remember that if I try this again.


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## jet (Sep 23, 2010)

It was at SG 1.002 tonight, so I transfered it to a gallon jug. 4.5 days in the primary, that's a new record for me.


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