A strong, sweet dessert cider fermented from apple juice concentrated by cold, with fermentation arrested before it can finish dry. Rich and full, with deep apple flavor and dessert-wine sweetness balanced by a bright, high acidity that keeps it from cloying — often compared to a Sauternes. Typically 7–13% ABV, gold to amber.
In the glass
Origin
Ice cider — cidre de glace — was created in Québec around 1990 by Christian Barthomeuf, one of the province’s first ice-wine makers, who applied the frozen-grape idea to apples at his vineyard in Dunham. The technique concentrates apple sugars with cold: either by freezing pressed juice and drawing off the sweet must (cryoconcentration, by far the dominant method) or by pressing apples left to freeze before harvest (cryoextraction). Commercial ice cider reached Québec’s liquor stores in 1999, once authorities permitted the term, and the province granted “Cidre de glace du Québec” a protected geographical indication on December 30, 2014. The result is among the most prized of modern ciders, a luscious sweet wine made entirely from apples.
Notes
The cold concentration is what sets ice cider apart: it sweetens by removing water rather than by adding sugar, so it differs from applewine (which uses added sugar) and from fire cider (which concentrates by heat and caramelizes). The defining tension is between intense residual sweetness and a high, balancing acidity — a great ice cider is rich without being syrupy. It is a dessert pour, served cold in small measures.
Defining examples
Domaine Pinnacle Cidre de Glace·Champlain Orchards Honeycrisp Ice Cider·Eden Heirloom Blend Ice Cider·Cidrerie St-Nicolas Glace du Verger·Windfall Orchard Ice Cider