Debonne Vineyards' Vidal Blanc Ice Wins Best Dessert Wine in San Francisco

Debonne' Vineyards, Ohio's largest estate winery, just received word that their 2013 vintage of Vidal Blanc Ice Wine won the "Sweepstakes Award for Best Dessert Wine" at the 2015 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. This event has become the largest competition of American wines in the world, with a staggering 6,300 entries in 2015. A panel of 60 prestigious experts judge these wines each year. The Sweepstakes Award is presented for wine that is considered to be the best dessert wine out of all the gold medal winning wines.
Debonne' Vineyards winemaker Ed Trebets commented on the 2013 vintage, "We picked the grapes on December 12th, which is historically early for the ice wine harvest and, as a result, there was a good balance of acidity and ripeness. Timing was perfect in order to get the best juice for winemaking."
True "ice wine" can only be produced in a handful of wine regions throughout the world. In order to be a true "ice wine" temperatures must drop to 17 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and the grapes must be hand-picked and pressed while frozen. Ice wine sugars occur naturally during the freezing process. There is never any artificial freezing.
Owner Tony Debevc could not be more pleased. "This ice wine was harvested before the devastating Polar Vortex hit the Grand River Valley Wine Region in 2013/2014. We knew while harvesting the grapes that it was going to be a special vintage. The grapes were perfectly hand-picked at just the right time. We are honored to be recognized with such a prestigious award for a wine that is truly a labor of love."
The Debonne' Vineyards Vidal Blanc Ice Wine retails for $29.99. It will also be the featured wine for Ohio's 12th Annual Grand River Valley Ice Wine Festival on March 7th, 14th, & 21st. More information can be found here.