Niagara Icewine Tasting Guide

Icewine is a sweet dessert wine made from grapes that freeze naturally on the vine and are pressed while still frozen. Niagara is one of the few places on earth cold enough, reliably enough, to make it, which is why Ontario icewine has an international reputation. You taste it chilled, in small pours, and a little goes a long way.

The 2027 Niagara Icewine Festival runs 8 January 2027 to 30 January 2027, which is the best excuse of the winter to combine it with the falls.

How icewine is made

Ordinary wine grapes are picked at the end of summer. Icewine grapes are left on the vine well into winter. The fruit shrivels and the water inside freezes, while the sugars and acids do not. Press the grapes while they are still frozen and what comes out is a thin trickle of dense, sweet juice.

The rules are strict. Under VQA Ontario, the grapes must be naturally frozen on the vine and pressed in a continuous process while the air temperature is at or below -8°C, and the juice must reach at least 35 degrees Brix on average. A VQA-appointed monitor oversees the harvest. If the temperature climbs above the threshold, picking stops. The full rules are on the VQA Ontario wine categories page.

In practice that means harvest happens when the cold lets it, often at night or before dawn, and it can be risky. A warm spell or a storm can lose a crop. That is the main reason a bottle costs what it does.

Why Niagara

Lake Ontario moderates winters here, so the vines survive, but the region still gets cold snaps that reliably drop below -8°C. That balance is what makes consistent icewine possible. The common grapes are Vidal, a thick-skinned hybrid that handles the long wait, Riesling, and Cabernet Franc, which makes a red icewine. For a wider view of the grape-growing region, see Wine Country Ontario’s icewine page.

How to taste it

1. Serve it chilled. Cold, but not ice-cold, so the aromas open up.
2. Smell first. Look for apricot, honey, peach, lychee and citrus peel.
3. Sip small. Let it coat your tongue. The sweetness arrives first, then the acidity cuts through.
4. Notice the finish. Good icewine ends clean and bright, not sticky.
5. Pair or stand alone. Blue cheese, aged cheddar, fruit tarts. Or let it be dessert.

Do not expect to drink a glass the way you would a dry red. Pours are small for a reason.

Where to taste it

Niagara-on-the-Lake has the highest concentration of wineries that pour icewine for visitors, and several are a short drive from each other. We have written up the best of them, with what each does well, in the best wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake guide. Two things worth knowing first:

• Book ahead in winter. Many wineries run reduced winter hours and some tasting rooms need a reservation. Check each winery’s own website.
• Two or three is plenty. Icewine is rich. Palate fatigue arrives quickly.

The Icewine Festival

The headline window is confirmed: 8 January 2027 to 30 January 2027, per the festival organizers at niagarawinefestival.com. The individual events inside it, the gala and tasting weekends, were not yet published when we checked in September 2026. Do not plan around a specific event date until the organizers post it. The festival also lands in the coldest, quietest stretch of the year, which we cover in Niagara Falls in January.

Buying tips

• Look for the VQA mark. It tells you the grapes and process meet the rules above, not a shortcut.
• Check the label. “Late harvest” and “icewine” are different things. Only the second means naturally frozen grapes.
• Buy small. Smaller bottles are standard and give you room to try more than one.
• Taste first. If a winery will waive the tasting fee on purchase, ask before you pay.
• Keep it cool. A sealed bottle keeps well in a cool, dark place. Once open, refrigerate it.

Prices differ by winery, grape and vintage, so we have not quoted any. Each winery’s own site is the reliable source.

Fitting it into a falls day

A winery visit and the falls fit comfortably into one day. The usual order is a tasting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, lunch, then the falls as the light drops. On our private Niagara Falls tour the route is flexible: tell us you want wine and we plan the stops around it, and you can check availability here.

Frequently asked questions