Eiswein: Naturally Frozen Grape Wine

Eiswein is one of the six German Prädikat terms, alongside Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, and under WeinG § 20 a German wine may carry it only once the Prädikat has been awarded with an official test number. For Eiswein, the same section of the law requires that the grapes used be frozen at harvest and at pressing, and WeinG § 17 requires Eiswein, like Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, to reach at least 5.5% actual alcohol by volume. In the Wines of Germany definition, Eiswein is made from grapes as ripe as Beerenauslese, harvested at a minimum of -7°C and pressed while frozen so that only the fruit concentrate is squeezed out. According to the Deutsches Weininstitut, a 1982 amendment to the German Wine Law raised Eiswein to an independent Prädikat level and set a minimum must weight at least equal to that of a Beerenauslese, 110 to 128° Oechsle depending on the growing region. Beerenauslese is usually made from berries infected by Botrytis cinerea, while a high-quality Eiswein does not show the flavour characteristics of noble rot and depends on healthy grapes.

• German law: the grapes must be frozen at harvest and at pressing. Deutsches Weininstitut guidance: in Germany -7°C is the minimum for picking and -10 to -12°C is ideal
• Deutsches Weininstitut: minimum must weight of 110 to 128° Oechsle depending on the growing region, at least that of a Beerenauslese
• Prädikat wines, Eiswein included, may not be enriched (chaptalised)
• Ontario's VQA rules set a -8°C harvest temperature for Icewine and require the must to average at least 35° Brix
• Austria: Eiswein grapes must be frozen at harvest and at pressing, with a must weight of at least 25° KMW, and cryoextraction (freezing out the water in a cold store) is banned

The poet Martial wrote of growers bringing in frost-stiffened grapes in November, and Pliny the Elder described grape varieties that were not picked until it had frozen. In Germany, documented Eiswein dates to 1830, when winegrowers in Dromersheim near Bingen in Rheinhessen found by chance on 11 February that frozen grapes gave a wonderfully sweet must. Schloss Johannisberg, known for the invention of Spätlese, made its first Eiswein in 1858. Wrapping Eiswein plots in foil, mainly to protect the grapes from birds, was first used in the 1960s. Systematic Austrian Eiswein production dates to 1971, when Julius Hafner II of Mönchhof carried out Austria's first Eiswein harvest, and Canada took up Eiswein in 1975, largely through German and Austrian emigrants. At Inniskillin, the first Icewine attempt in 1983 was lost to birds, and netting protected the crop from 1984 onward.

• 1830: first documented German Eiswein, Dromersheim near Bingen, Rheinhessen
• 1858: Schloss Johannisberg's first Eiswein
• 1971: Julius Hafner II of Mönchhof carries out Austria's first Eiswein harvest
• 1982: Eiswein becomes an independent Prädikat through an amendment to the German Wine Law
• 2000: Austria, Germany and Canada sign an agreement for the natural method and against cryoextraction; in 2001 Canadian Icewine was protected under that name on the EU market

Eiswein is a gamble: the grapes hang on the vine longer than usual and wait for at least -7°C (the minimum the Deutsches Weininstitut gives for Germany), until January and in rare cases February. Growers leave fully ripe grapes on the vine into late autumn or winter, accepting the risk of total loss if it does not get cold enough. In Austria, Eiswein must be registered with a notice of intent the day before picking. When temperatures reach the -7°C that the Deutsches Weininstitut gives as the German guidance (Ontario's legal rule is -8°C or lower), harvesters pick the frozen clusters, in Germany in the early morning hours in the great majority of cases. The frozen grapes are pressed immediately, leaving ice crystals behind in the press while concentrated, intensely sweet juice flows out. The resulting must is so sugar-rich that fermentation is slow and difficult, often yielding a finished wine of only around 7% alcohol by volume.

• Austria's agriculture ministry (BMLUK) advises that the minimum temperature should hold for several hours so the berries freeze through, with around -7°C as a guide and -7 to -10°C as the ideal range
• The bottled Eiswein averages about 5 to 10% of the original crop, and in Germany the harvest is often only 300 to 500 litres per hectare; in Austria the long-term average is about 10%
• In Germany the Eiswein harvest takes place in the early morning hours in the great majority of cases; in Austria it is mostly at night or in the early morning
• Ontario's O. Reg. 406/00 requires the grapes to be picked at -8°C or lower and pressed immediately in a continuous process, and bans freeze concentration of juice, must or wine
• Once the grapes are fully ripe, Eiswein plots are partly defoliated and wrapped in foil, mainly as protection against birds

Austria and Germany were long the only countries producing Eiswein; Canada took up the style in 1975 and, in the BMLUK's account, became the world's largest Eiswein producer over time. In November 2025, Eiswein was harvested in German regions including Rheinhessen, Franken, Sachsen, the Pfalz, the Hessische Bergstraße, Württemberg and the Mosel, with Riesling, Silvaner and the newer variety Souvignier Gris picked. In Rhineland-Palatinate that year only 16.6 hectares were registered for Eiswein, the fewest in ten years, and 29 producers in Rheinhessen, the Pfalz and the Mosel pressed around 35,000 litres. In Austria, Eiswein is made mainly in northern Burgenland and in Lower Austria (Wagram, Weinviertel), chiefly from white varieties such as Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, Traminer, Gelber Muskateller and Scheuerrebe, with red examples from St. Laurent, Zweigelt and Blauer Burgunder. In Ontario, VQA Ontario calls the hybrid Vidal the flagship grape for Icewine production.

• Germany: 2025 Eiswein harvests in regions including Rheinhessen, the Pfalz, Franken and the Mosel
• Rhineland-Palatinate 2025: 16.6 ha registered, 57% Silvaner, 20% Souvignier Gris and 17% Riesling
• Austria: mainly northern Burgenland and Lower Austria (Wagram, Weinviertel)
• Canada: Ontario's VQA rules for Icewine permit listed vitis vinifera varieties and Vidal
• Eiswein is becoming rarer as German winters grow warmer

Eiswein's hallmark is a dense concentration of berry extract with comparatively high acidity, the strong acidity forming a counterweight to the intense natural sweetness, and its aromas can recall peach, pineapple, pear, citrus fruit, mango, caramel and honey. Healthy grapes without botrytis give a fresh, concentrated fruity taste, and this is where Eiswein differs in flavour from Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. German Eiswein usually has natural residual sugar of well over 100 g/L and an alcohol content often of only about 7% by volume; Austrian Eiswein runs from 7 to 12.5%, because the yeast can ferment only part of the sugar. Ontario's rules set 7.0 to 14.9% actual alcohol and at least 100 g/L residual sugar for VQA Icewine.

• Aroma: can recall peach, pineapple, pear, citrus fruit, mango, caramel and honey
• Palate: intense sweetness, in German Eiswein usually with natural residual sugar of well over 100 g/L, kept in balance by fresh fruit acidity
• Alcohol: often only about 7% by volume in German Eiswein; 7 to 12.5% in Austria
• No noble-rot character: a high-quality Eiswein does not show the flavour characteristics of noble rot

Eiswein works as an aperitif and, following the rule that like goes with like, suits fruity desserts, ice cream or sorbets especially well. Ripe blue-veined cheese is another match, where the salty to slightly bitter notes of the creamy cheese meet the fruity, sweet aromas of the concentrated wine.

• Fruity desserts, ice cream and sorbets
• Ripe blue-veined cheese
• As an aperitif

Under WeinG § 20, German law defines Eiswein by the state of the grapes at harvest and pressing, frozen, while Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are defined by noble-rotten or overripe berries. The style sets German and Austrian Prädikat rules beside Ontario's VQA regulation, which uses a -8°C picking threshold and a must averaging at least 35° Brix. Warmer winters make the required temperature rarer in Germany, and, according to Austria's agriculture ministry (BMLUK), climate change has made Eiswein markedly harder to produce.

• Frost versus Botrytis: Beerenauslese uses noble-rotten or at least overripe berries and Trockenbeerenauslese largely shrivelled noble-rotten berries, while Eiswein grapes must be frozen
• Vintage variability: if it does not get cold enough, no Eiswein can be picked
• Became an independent Prädikat in 1982
• Ontario: -8°C picking temperature and a must averaging at least 35° Brix

Primary sources (German federal wine law, Deutsches Weininstitut, Austria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ontario's VQA regulation, VQA Ontario, and Inniskillin for its own history): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/weing_1994/__20.html, https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/weing_1994/__17.html, https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/weinv_1995/__13.html, https://www.deutscheweine.de/wein-probieren/418/eiswein, https://www.deutscheweine.de/news-medien/meldungen/meldung/1581/k%C3%A4lteeinbruch-erm%C3%B6glicht-fr%C3%BChe-eiswein-lese, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/449/pr%C3%A4dikat-categories, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/182/must-weights, https://www.bmluk.gv.at/themen/lebensmittel/trad-lebensmittel/getraenke/eiswein.html, https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/000406, https://vqaontario.ca/vqa-wine-program/wine-categories-and-labelling/, https://www.inniskillin.com/our-story/. Last verified 2026-11-09