Last month, when I was indulging in an extended period of lethargy, I saw a segment on TV about several dessert wines. One that sounded interesting was an ice wine made by a vineyard in Canada called Inniskillin. The grapes are only harvested when frozen solid, usually at night, and then pressed immediately, producing a very small yield of an intensely sweet, rich wine. As is usual, I completely forgot about this until we were away on vacation last month and one of the Inniskillin wines was on the dessert menu.

When I took the first sip of the wine I knew this going to turn into an immediate, long-lasting addiction. I declined to share the wine with anyone else at the table, huddling over it protectively in true addict style. Since that first glass I’ve had it a couple of more times at restaurants, only deepening my need for this wine. Yesterday we were buying wines for a wine tasting on Saturday night and found several of the ice wines in the “Premium Collection” room at the local state store (Pennsylvania continues its tradition of a state controlled liquor control board, which translates to poor selection, high prices, surly clerks, and an ability to purchase products that haven’t gone through the convoluted process of being listed by the LCB). One bottle for the wine tasting and two for us (the Riesling was liberally sampled last night). Considering the price of this stuff ($80 for a 375ml bottle) I’d do better financially to have a drug problem.