2019 Iniskillin Riesling Ice Wine Niagara Peninsula 375ml

WA95 The 2019 Riesling Ice Wine comes in with 244 grams of residual sugar, 12.5 of total acidity and 9.6% alcohol. This is a bit pricier, but it would be my pick for best of the Inniskillin group. As lovely as the Vidal wines are, this is just a better grape. Rich but balanced nonetheless, it shows off its purity of aromatics and flavors to go with the unctuous texture. The peaches and apricots are obvious, as they tend to be on wines like this. Overall, this is super. It is a full-on dessert wine. Don’t drink this (or any of them) too warm. The price references a half bottle.
Wines like this tend to hold rather well. I have generally pegged them at around 15 years for aging ability, more or less. That’s a placeholder. Don’t be surprised if some do better, but at that point there would need to be a reevaluation. For one thing, they do change character dramatically as they age, becoming more concentrated and less lush. Some may prefer that (I do), but you’re not wrong to like them young. They don’t really need much aging. There is no wrong answer. Just don’t drink any of them too warm. Regarding the 2019s here, the winery said that there was an “early onset of below seasonal temperatures,” but they did not start harvesting early; some other wineries harvested on the earliest date recorded—November 12. They waited until December 18 and concluded in early February 2020. As for the 2018s, the 2018 harvest began early—December 14—and continued for several consecutive days.