Watson's 2006 Icewine is ready
I got a call from Kevin Watson tonight, my Icewine order has been picked, pressed and settled and is now ready to be picked up.
Since Kim and I are going to be in Ottawa this weekend, skating on the canal, we'll have to arrange pickup for early next week. Thankfully Icewine juice doesn't oxidize at all if it's kept cold (a combination of the cold, the high percentage of sugar in the juice, and the container it's being kept in) so I can wait until early next week to pick it up and start fermentation.
My original order was for 20L of Vidal, 13L of Riesling-Traminer and 13L or Cab Franc. Unfortunately, Kevin says the Cab Franc is too murky and will require the use of a centrifuge in order to clear it up enough that it will ferment properly, so he doesn't recommend I buy it unless I've got a centrifuge lying around. Instead, he'll sell it to a large commercial winery that has the right equipment to manage the problem.
This is disappointing on one hand (I wanted to try my hand at a red Icewine) and a blessing on another (my checkbook can use the extra $360).