2006 Chenin Blanc Ice 375mL

$50.00 -- The wine is intensely rich and exudes ultra ripe melon aromas and flavors with a clean acidity.

Purchase 2006 Chenin Blanc Ice 375mL

Tasting Notes
"Chateau Ste. Michelle welcomed freezing temperatures on October 31st in Eastern Washington by harvesting ice wine for only the fifth time in the winery's 40-year history. (Ironically, the winery has picked ice wine grapes on October 31st for three out of the five years.) We even made two ice wines - one from Riesling grapes and this ice wine from Chenin Blanc grapes. The Chenin Blanc Ice Wine was a happy afterthought. After picking the Riesling Ice Wine, our vineyard manager said that we still had Chenin grapes on the south end of the vineyard - an area that doesn't typically get as cold because it is closer to the Columbia River. Fortunately, the grapes were hanging in a low, cold spot and were frozen solid. The wine is intensely rich and exudes ultra ripe melon aromas and flavors with a clean acidity."
-Bob Bertheau, Winemaker

Winemaker's Harvest Story
The 2006 harvest brought us unique opportunities to make a variety of sweet wines, including a Late Harvest Riesling, Late Harvest Chenin Blanc, Riesling Ice Wine, Chenin Blanc Ice Wine, as well as our prized Single Berry Select Trockenbeerenauslese style wine. With forecasts predicting below freezing temperatures for the evening of October 30th, we decided to pick our botrytis affected grapes for the Single Berry select during the day on Oct. 30th. Then we picked frozen ice wine grapes that night during the freeze and grapes for late harvest wines the next morning after the grapes had thawed. We ended up picking grapes for five different dessert wines within 24 hours!

Vinetage & Vineyards

All the necessary conditions for ice wine came together during the 2006 harvest- low temperatures below 14 degrees F and ripe, healthy fruit still hanging on the vine.
Eastern Washington's climate, with its potential temperature extremes, is a perfect candidate to produce great ice wine in appropriate years.
Chenin Blanc grapes were harvested from our Horse Heaven Wineyard, located in the Horse Heaven Hills adjacent to the Columbia River in Eastern Washington

Technical Data

Alcohol: 8.0%
Total Acidity: 0.82g /100ml
pH: 3.31
Residual Sugar: 26.9
Blend: 100% Horse Heaven Vineyard Chenin Blanc

Purchase 2006 Chenin Blanc Ice 375mL

Other products in the category Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine / Dessert Wines:

2005 Ethos Late Harvest Riesling -- A complex wine, the Ethos Late Harvest Riesling exudes aromas of honey, apricot and spice.

2006 Eroica Riesling Ice 375mL -- The Eroica White Riesling Ice Wine is an exotic, luscious, ultra ripe wine with concentrated aromas and flavors of apricot and honey.

2006 Ethos Late Harvest White Riesling 375ml -- The Ethos Late Harvest White Riesling is a complex, decadent wine with intense aromas of apricot, honey and jasmine spice.

2006 Horse Heaven Late Harvest Chenin Blanc
375mL -- The Late Harvest Chenin Blanc offers aromas and flavors of ripe melon and sweet lime. Think Key Lime pie in a glass!