Ice Wine Festival planned for March | Local News Leave a comment

This year’s celebration of ice wine will take place throughout the month of March, said Cindy Lindberg, one of the organizers of the Ice Wine Festival.

Lindberg, the owner of Grand River Cellars, said the Ice Wine Festival will take place from noon to 5 p.m. in March, but special events will be hosted at participating wineries on Saturdays. 

Last year, the festival took place in April, in order to allow attendees to more easily take advantage of the wineries’ outdoor spaces.

“We just feel that the Ice Wine Festival needs to happen when it’s still cold out,” Lindberg said. “Moving it to April just did not have the same feel for us, and so we felt like it really should go back to March, where it’s a little bit cooler out. Plus it’s still a time when people are really looking for something to do.”

Wineries will offer dishes that are designed to pair well with their ice wines, Lindberg said.

Wineries will also be partnering with local businesses to offer other ice wine inspired items. “Many of us will be paired up with different small businesses that really want to highlight ice wine-made goods,” Lindberg said.

Ice wine is made by harvesting and pressing grapes while they are frozen.

Numerous wineries harvested grapes for upcoming ice wine vintages over the weekend.

COVID-19 regulations will be handled on a winery-by-winery basis, Lindberg said.

The event has continued year after year because of the uniqueness of ice wine, Lindberg said. “It can only be produced in a few parts of the entire world, so when you put that in perspective, that’s a big deal,” she said. “To put it into a festival feel and a celebration of the true final harvest of the year, I think that’s what’s kept it going.”