Concern for the future

Climate change: it’s slowly getting too warm for ice wine

There has never been such a snowy and cold winter this season.

(Bild: Weingut Kracher)

This vintage will have to do without the well-known sweet wine, as the winter was simply not cold enough. As demand is also falling, the future prospects for this special wine are rather frosty.

If you look in the online stores of the top wineries Tschida and Kracher from Illmitz, you will only find ice wines from 2023 and 2020. "We waited in vain for 2021 and 2022," says Hans Tschida. And there will be no ice wine from this year's vintage either. It is becoming increasingly difficult, says the sweet wine specialist. One reason for this is the mild winter.

It is only an ice wine when frozen
For a wine to be considered ice wine, the grapes must be harvested and pressed while frozen. The result is a honey-sweet wine. The rule of thumb is a temperature of minus 7 degrees Celsius or lower. However, climate change is increasingly throwing a spanner in the works. In addition, grapes are being harvested earlier and earlier, explains Tschida. "Last year, we harvested the late harvest at the end of August."

The Kracher winery also says that it will be able to harvest its last ice wine - in manageable quantities - in 2023. The reason for this is that it no longer gets so cold in winter.

Only a few winegrowers left
Neither the Chamber of Agriculture nor the President of the Winegrowers' Association, Andreas Liegenfeld, are aware of any winegrowers who have harvested ice wine this winter. According to Liegenfeld, there are now only a few wineries that would take the risk and leave the grapes hanging. These can be counted on one hand. Verena Klöckl, managing director of the winegrowers' association and specialist area coordinator for viticulture at the Chamber of Agriculture, estimates this at less than one percent.

Ice wine is usually harvested in the early hours of the morning when it is cold enough.

(Bild: Weingut Tschida)

Declining production and demand
Ice wine is also no longer particularly important in wine production. The demand for sweet wine has declined worldwide, reports Liegenfeld. This is partly because the wine is higher in calories. However, there is still demand in the Asian market.

The winegrowing president estimates that of around 11,000 hectares of vineyards in Burgenland, only around 20 hectares are used for ice wine.

Ice wine still has a future
Ice wine also only accounts for a small proportion of Tschida's production. However, he is convinced that there will continue to be ice wine in the future despite climate change - just not every year.

Rejection of "artificial" winemaking
Liegenfeld takes a similar view. Despite climate change, he is confident that there will continue to be winters in which it is cold enough. He clearly rejects "artificial" ice wine production - such as in Canada, where ice wine is produced in cold stores at minus 10 degrees: "In terms of the carbon footprint and sustainability, this is more than questionable."