The Wine Knows

For just the sixth time in its storied history, Chateau Ste. Michelle will produce an ice wine, thanks to our Arctic freeze.

Workers trudged through snow-covered Horse Heaven Vineyard at Columbia Crest in Paterson, Wash., - with temperatures at ZERO degrees - to harvest the marble-hard Riesling grapes.

Ste. Michelle's previous ice wine harvests were in 1978, 1995, 2002, 2003 and 2006.

Wendy Stuckey, Ste. Michelle's white winemaker, who arrived from Australia just a year ago, got her first taste of the cold temperatures possible in Columbia Valley vineyards.

"I was absolutely freezing," Stuckey said. "But it was an amazing. I never thought I would get to experience picking frozen grapes in the sunshine. The grapes sounded like bullets when they hit the hopper. It took five hours to press the syrup-like juice out the frozen grapes."

Workers picked 10 tons of grapes measuring 49 brix (a measurement of sugar), which produced about 200 gallons of juice - the equivalent of about 80 cases. The wine likely will be released next fall.