CANADIAN VQA STANDARDS FOR ICEWINE
The
Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) is an internationally recognized program which
defines and mandates standards for wine and wine certification in Canada.
The following are the regulations pertaining to Icewine production.
Icewine shall be a wine produced exclusively from grapes that have been harvested, naturally frozen on the vine, and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature is -8° Celsius (17.6°F) or lower.
Icewine shall be made of grapes pressed within the recognized Viticultural Area in which the grapes were grown, and shall meet the requirements of a varietal wine. The grapes, juice, must or wine may not be artificially refrigerated at any point in the manufacturing process, except for tank cooling during fermentation and/or during cold stabilization prior to bottling. After each pressing, the resulting juice shall achieve a minimum of 32 degrees Brix, when measured after transfer to the fermentation vessel. The finished wine shall have been produced from a must that achieved a computed average of not less than 35 degrees Brix.
Icewine shall have a residual sugar at bottling not less than 100 g/L, and the residual sugar and the actual alcohol shall result exclusively from the natural sugar of the grapes. Sweet reserve may not be added. The Viticultural Area within which the grapes were grown shall be declared on the principal display panel of the wine.
Vintners Quality Alliance
1110 Hannover Drive, Suite B205
St. Catharines, Ontario L2W 1A4Tel: +1 (905) 684-8070
