The Niagara Icewine Festival is back in full force after a two-year hiatus, with 27 wineries participating across the Niagara Benchlands and into Niagara-on-the-Lake for three weekends through to the end of January.

There are very few places in the world with warm enough summers and cold enough winters to produce quality icewine. The grapes need to freeze on the vine at temperatures of -8 degrees Celsius, and they’re then pressed while still frozen to release a juice with highly concentrated sugars. The resulting wine is sweet, rich, and full of flavour. Canada produces more icewine than any other country in the world, and Niagara is one of the premier regions for it on the planet.

To commemorate the festival’s return, we reviewed three Vidal icewines from three different wineries and three different vintages, each of which will be poured at the festival as it continues throughout January on the weekends of January 20 to 22 and January 27 to 29.

We visited festival as it opened this past weekend, where our discovery passes gave us access to six different wineries to sample their chosen food and icewine pairings. We’ll share our thoughts on those in a column very soon.
For now, here’s a look at the three icewines we sampled in our preview video series, which you can find on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

Niagara College Teaching Winery 2019 Dean’s List Prodigy Vidal
$48.85 for 200 mL, available at the winery

The Niagara College Teaching Winery is a training facility for students who attend the college’s winery and viticulture technician program. By supporting the teaching winery, you’re helping to cultivate future winemaking talent for the Niagara region and elsewhere! The 2019 Dean’s List Prodigy icewine was evaluated by veteran wine journalist Tony Aspler, who describes the wine as having poached apples and honey on the nose and flavours of marmalade and candied sugar. I found some ripe pear notes on the palate as well. The elongated finish gets sweeter as it lingers. It’s better reserved for special occasion sipping at this price but worth every penny. For the festival, the winery is pairing this with tandoori grilled chicken and a lime and Vidal-infused raita.
Score: 8.5/10

Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery 2017 Howard’s Vidal
$24.95 for 200 mL, available at the winery

Technically, it’s the 2016 Vidal icewine that Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery is pouring for the festival, but when I stopped in for a bottle, I was assured that the 2017 Howard’s Vidal is extremely similar. At $25 a bottle, it’s an affordable introduction to icewine if this style of wine is new to you. Its caramel colour welcomes you into aromas of poached pear, honey, and tangy tropical notes, and the palate follows through with a melange of pineapple, passionfruit, and mango. The finish feels like you’ve just bitten into a piece of ripe pineapple and holds on with a sweet acidity. Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery will be serving this with the return of a fan favourite: sweet potato gnocchi.
Score: 8.5/10

Creekside Estate Winery 2015 Vidal
$30.00 for 200 mL, available at the winery

This classic Vidal icewine from Creekside is immediately enchanting with aromas of stewed stone fruits, particularly apricot, underlaid with sweet citrus and vanilla. On the palate, the initial flavour is rich peaches in syrup, which opens up to another layer of sweet citrus and a hint of pear before returning to stone fruit flavours for the finish. Rich, complex, and affordable, this icewine hits all the right marks. Chili pepper is a wonderful pairing with icewine, and for the festival Creekside will be taking full advantage by pairing this with ricotta-stuffed tortellini and a Calabrian chili oil. Score: 9/10.