Temperatures have not fallen far enough for grapes to freeze on the vine as process requires

A warm winter means that for the first time in years Germany’s vineyards will produce no ice wine, an expensive golden nectar made from grapes left to freeze on the vine.

The German Wine Institute said on Sunday that temperatures had not dropped to the prerequisite low of -7C (19F) in any of the country’s wine regions.

A succession of warm winters have reduced ice wine production in recent years, the wine industry’s marketing arm said. Only seven producers managed to make it in 2017, and only five in 2013. It did not say how far back records went.

“If warm winters become more frequent over the coming years, ice wines from Germany’s regions will will soon become an even more expensive rarity than they already are,” said Ernst Büscher, a spokesman for the institute.

Freezing the grapes before they are crushed concentrates the sugar and leads to an intensely sweet wine often served with dessert. It has always been a niche product, accounting for about 0.1% of German production, and the low volumes make it expensive.

Making ice wine is a tricky business. Workers must race into the vineyards to harvest the grapes with only a few hours notice when the temperature falls, often at night or in the early morning. The grapes have to be pressed while still frozen, so the winemakers work in unheated facilities. Vineyard owners also face the risk that grapes set aside for ice wine will rot on the vine before the temperature drops far enough.

Canada’s Niagara peninsula is one of several other places where ice wine is produced, thanks to its cold winters. It is also made in the US in northern Michigan and Ashtabula county, Ohio, near Lake Erie.

Major markets for German ice wine include Japan, China, Scandinavia and the US, the institute said.

