2007 Jackson-Triggs Proprietors' Reserve Vidal Ice Wine

This quarter bottle was a gift, but I believe it goes for about $20 - 187 ml though...not cheap.

A borderline absurd nose - pineapple, vanilla, cream, papaya, mango, way deep in there even some petrol notes.

As a good ice wine should be, it's sweet, but not so much it's over the top. Everythng on the nose - pineapple, vanilla, papaya, mango, miscellaneous tropical fruit - like the syrup from fruit cocktail - plus some distinct baked pear notes. The sort of wine that you want to just take your time, sip slowly, and enjoy on its own.

You guessed it - the finish suggests pineapple ice cream.

I've long said dessert wines are tough to score because as long as there's just a bit of balance they seem excellent. Of course, they're generally pricey to make and buy, so if someone is making an ice wine it's probably going to be at the very least decent. I've had many an ice wine and this one is easily one of the better ones.

Score: 93

2005 Mary Michelle Vidal Ice Wine

This is fifteen bucks for a half bottle, which makes it one of the cheapest ice wines I've even encountered. Mary Michelle is tied to Illinois Cellars which is located in southwest Illinois.

A little caramel and a bit of an odd turpentine quality on the nose.

Golden raisin, vanilla, butter, pear, honey, caramel - nice and complex but a bit hot. 14.2% alcohol in an ice wine? Odd.

More caramel on the finish.

A bit different than what I'd expect from an ice wine - bigger, bolder, hotter - so be advised. I'd say it may be worth a look, but it's definitely the sort of dessert wine you want to drink with food - poundcake or a nice cobbler, maybe?

Score: 86

2005 St. Gisbertus Eiswein

I was browsing the Sunday newspaper ads and casually looked at the flyer for Aldi which had a in bold letters: EISWINE: $9.99. It must be crap I assumed, seeing as the cheapest eiswines from Germany I’ve seen are more than double that.

But alas, I was driving by Aldi and felt intrigued...an Eiswein for $10? I was too intrigued not to give it a shot.

The nose shows lots of honey and something vaguely like pineapple upside down cake...not just pineapples, but pineapples with perhaps some caramel and added sugar.

The palate is pretty much nothing more than apples. This tastes like apple juice. There’s no real burst of complexity...after letting it linger on the palate for a while I get some pineapple and a bit of apricot on the finish.

I wouldn’t call it crap, but I wouldn’t call it a great quality eiswein. It’s drinkable, if you’ve never had German style dessert wine do not hesitate picking this up to get a general feel, this is the type of wine that’s just almost there...it’s not quite good enough to warrant buying again, especially since I’ve had some great late harvest wines within a few dollars of this one that are exponentially better.