Is there a more perfect time of year? One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to head for the mountains. Since I live in southeast Texas, I don't get a chance to see much snow or mountains, so for me it's great being in the snow-covered mountains for a couple of weeks, preferably at a ski lodge. Picture sitting next to a cozy fireplace after dinning at one of the lodges' finer restaurants and ordering a glass of port or better yet an Ice Wine, or as they call it in Germany, an Eiswein.

As you will recall, we discussed port in my March 2008 article. That is if you read the article. If not, you may wish to click on the link and read it now. Ice Wine may sound cold, but it will put a glow in those cheeks.

Ice Wine or Eiswein is produced from grapes that have been left on the vine past the usually harvest and allowed to freeze locking in a high concentration of residual sugar. The frozen grapes are then handpicked in the dead of winter at night and rushed to the winery where they are crushed still frozen. The result is a yield of about one drop of very sweet juice per grape with concentrated flavors. This produces some of the world's finest dessert wine. Of course, all of this comes at a price, but in my humble opinion well worth it.

Andrew brought with him a passion for producing a premium-quality wine and passed that passion along to his son and grandson. You're thinking what does that have to do with the wine? Well, not only is the wine just darn good, but when you understand all that went into producing a wine, it can't help but raise your level of appreciation. And you can taste the passion it took to get up in the middle of the night in the dead of winter and trudge through the snow to pick grapes. Wow!

Back to my recommendation, it is Peller Estates' 2006 Signature Series Riesling Icewine, which retails for around $80.00 US for a 375mL bottle (a regular bottle of wine is 750mL). I told you it wasn't going to be cheap, but boy is it good! They also have several other styles. If you local wine retailer doesn't have it, you can purchase it direct at www.peller.com.

Until next month, Cheers!