I ate at the incredible Restaurant Vermont in Los Feliz (I'm writing a review which I'll put up later) and in lieu of picking a dessert I chose a $20 glass of Inniskillin Canadian Icewine. I had read about this wonder in a magazine a few months ago, and I had doubted I'd get the chance to try it as it seemed fairly rare.
Normally, I'm a huge stickler for dessert wines; I detest and will flatly reject any Port that doesn't carry a $100+ price tag on the bottle (I got spoiled with my first experience with the stuff). Riesling has a rather hollow, alcohol-tinged sweetness that I find appalling, and many muscat wines taste like over-sugared grape juice.
But this!! This wonderful Icewine, which surely must be in some form related to the Ambrosia of myth...is simply beyond compare. My expectations were higher than ever when I found that my $20 got me a small (4 oz) port wine glassful of the stuff, and I was in no way disappointed. I suppose the best way to describe it would be like drinking a thinned concoction of the finest honey laced with the finest grapes... There was no trace of any alcohol flavor, nor was there any hint of a flat sugary taste present in normal wines. Indeed it was almost an unearthly experience; the way the golden syrup crept out of the glass, lulled lazily among my tastebuds, and finally began a slow caressing descent down my throat was something I would implore anyone reading this to try.
The only problem is; as my girlfriend had all too correctly predicted, is that I will want a glass of Icewine after every restaurant meal, and I know I shall be sorely disappointed with any establishment that does not carry it..and because of this begins my fevered quest to find out where I can procure bottles of my own -- sans the $20 per glass price. An expensive habit? Surely, but worth it, and you will agree once you've experienced it as well.
Normally, I'm a huge stickler for dessert wines; I detest and will flatly reject any Port that doesn't carry a $100+ price tag on the bottle (I got spoiled with my first experience with the stuff). Riesling has a rather hollow, alcohol-tinged sweetness that I find appalling, and many muscat wines taste like over-sugared grape juice.
But this!! This wonderful Icewine, which surely must be in some form related to the Ambrosia of myth...is simply beyond compare. My expectations were higher than ever when I found that my $20 got me a small (4 oz) port wine glassful of the stuff, and I was in no way disappointed. I suppose the best way to describe it would be like drinking a thinned concoction of the finest honey laced with the finest grapes... There was no trace of any alcohol flavor, nor was there any hint of a flat sugary taste present in normal wines. Indeed it was almost an unearthly experience; the way the golden syrup crept out of the glass, lulled lazily among my tastebuds, and finally began a slow caressing descent down my throat was something I would implore anyone reading this to try.
The only problem is; as my girlfriend had all too correctly predicted, is that I will want a glass of Icewine after every restaurant meal, and I know I shall be sorely disappointed with any establishment that does not carry it..and because of this begins my fevered quest to find out where I can procure bottles of my own -- sans the $20 per glass price. An expensive habit? Surely, but worth it, and you will agree once you've experienced it as well.
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