Cold temps bring ice wine harvest

  • French Valley Vineyard manager Tomas Moreno helped in the harvest of riesling grapes for ice wine production Tuesday morning. Bel Lago Venture employees and volunteers from the community gathered together and braved the elements to assist with the public ice wine picking event. Enterprise photo by Meakalia Previch-Liu
    French Valley Vineyard manager Tomas Moreno helped in the harvest of riesling grapes for ice wine production Tuesday morning. Bel Lago Venture employees and volunteers from the community gathered together and braved the elements to assist with the public ice wine picking event. Enterprise photo by Meakalia Previch-Liu
  • Brian Krombeen, who does grounds work for French Valley Vineyard, dumps out frozen grape clusters into larger bins to transport and then be pressed. When the frozen grapes are pressed, only a small amount of concentrated juice is extracted and then fermented to make the specialized ice wine product.
    Brian Krombeen, who does grounds work for French Valley Vineyard, dumps out frozen grape clusters into larger bins to transport and then be pressed. When the frozen grapes are pressed, only a small amount of concentrated juice is extracted and then fermented to make the specialized ice wine product.
  • Sarah Peschel, Bel Lago’s director of marketing, takes a moment to show a cluster of frozen riesling grapes just picked off the vine. Vineyard Manager Tomas Moreno said a normal cluster yields about 20 ounces of concentrate, while an ice wine cluster only holds about 10 ounces. Enterprise photos by Meakalia Previch-Liu
    Sarah Peschel, Bel Lago’s director of marketing, takes a moment to show a cluster of frozen riesling grapes just picked off the vine. Vineyard Manager Tomas Moreno said a normal cluster yields about 20 ounces of concentrate, while an ice wine cluster only holds about 10 ounces. Enterprise photos by Meakalia Previch-Liu
On a frigid Tuesday morning with temps reaching only as high as 14 degrees, both Bel Lago Venture employees and volunteers from the community were out in Leelanau County ice wine picking in the vineyards. The perfect freezing conditions finally came this week, and people had the chance to gather for French Valley Vineyards ice wine harvest just off South French Road. Attendees and workers took…

Premium Content is available to subscribers only. Please login here to access content or comment on a story.  Go here to purchase a subscription.