111: Ontario Icewine: How to Drink It, Pair It and Love It with Karen King

How is Icewine different from other sweet wines? How does that change the way you drink it and pair with food? Which pairings work beyond dessert? How can you make delicious Icewine Slushies and pair them with chili chips and wasabi peas for an incredible flavour combination? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with Karen King, co-owner of the Ice House Winery in Niagara. You can find the wines we discussed at www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks.   Highlights What differences can you see in how different generations think about Icewine? Why shouldn't you save Icewine only for special occasions? How is the Ice House Winery Icewine different from others? How does Karen and Jaime's winemaking goal benefit you? What rule-breaking experience can you expect from the Ice House's Icewine Slushies? How can you make Icewine Slushies at home? What taste profile will you encounter when drinking Icewine Slushies? Why should try a pairing of Icewine with wasabi peas? Which surprising notes will you taste in the Ice House Riesling Icewine? What foods can you pair with Riesling Icewine? Which complex notes can you identify in Ice House Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine? Are there certain aspects of a wine that make it more suited for you to have at the end of a meal? How can Icewine make your other wines more interesting? How did being on The Big Decision catapult the Ice House Winery's popularity? Where can you find the Ice House Winery?   Key Takeaways Karen reveals some interesting stats: 20% of wine lovers drink dessert wine, but 80% are interested in them as cocktails, particularly younger people. I think it’s smart that she came up with a way to make icewine more accessible and have a broader reach with the slushies even though purists might be horrified. They lower the intensity of the flavour and sweetness making them more palatable. Her pairings of chilli chips and wasabi peas were simply brilliant with icewine. The combination of heat, salt, sweetness and acidity was a party for my mouth. Also try other chip flavours like chipotle, lime and jalapeno. I like her observation on high tone fruit like peach, pear, apricot in Vidal icewines versus the lower tone, more mellow fruit of a Cabernet-based icewine with notes of dark berries and cherries.   About Karen King Karen King and her husband, Jamie Macfarlane are the co-owners of the Ice House Winery in Niagara. Karen has applied her business and sensory expertise to support Jamie’s expertise as a master winemaker. He developed his unique award-winning Icewines through Karen's research that identified that consumers preferred a more balanced Icewine with a complex fruit-forward delivery that had a crisp rather than sweet finish.     To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode, visit the https://www.nataliemaclean.com/111.