For ‘ice wine’ vintners, frigid temps are reason to rejoice

OVID, N.Y. (AP) — While the vast majority of New Yorkers are hunkering down to ride out frigid temperatures and snow blasts from the latest winter storm, others are seizing on the opportunity to … pick grapes? One Finger Lakes-area winemaker jokingly calls it “insanity,” but these are the ideal conditions for harvesting grapes for ice wine, a dessert variety grown in the region that is known for its sweetness and intense flavors. December’s warmer than average temperatures pushed back the harvesting, but a cold spell this month has the pickers out in numbers. About a dozen upstate wineries make ice win by picking the frozen grapes, while others harvest the grapes during warmer months then freeze them.