Who Makes Aldi Specially Selected Ice Wine?

Ice wine sounds like something you'd sip in an upscale chalet after a day on the slopes, or one of those bars made entirely of ice. While those are certainly appropriate settings, this sweet dessert wine doesn't have to come with a luxury-sized price tag that strikes a chill through your bones. Every year, around September, Aldi restocks its highly praised Specially Selected Vidal Ice Wine, which is a product of Canada. Ice wine is made from grapes that are naturally frozen while still on the vine, and it's most common in the Great White North and in Germany, where it's better known as Eiswein. Grapes are picked at below-freezing temperatures and quickly pressed to extract the sweet juice. The labor-intensive nature of harvesting and extraction is the reason ice wines tend to be expensive. At Aldi, a 375-milliliter bottle of Specially Selected brand retails for $15, but who actually makes this wine is less straightforward than its place of origin. 

Aldi introduced ice wine as part of Specially Selected's premium collection in 2023. It's made with Vidal Blanc grapes and imported by Flying Blue Imports, which sources region-specific wines from small farms and markets them under private labels. Aldi's ice wine is produced in Ontario's Niagara-on-the-Lake region and is certified by the Vintners Quality Alliance, an appellation system for Canadian wines. While the manufacturer remains somewhat of a mystery, it's likely Inniskillin Wines, a venerable Niagara-on-the-Lake winery that grows Vidal grapes and is famous for ice wine.

Specially Selected ice wine is golden-hued, slightly syrupy, and has a label that invites you into a winter wonderland. Its flavor bursts with notes of honey, apricot, and peach, pairing perfectly with strong cheeses, dark chocolate, and of course, desserts. This 10.5% ABV wine ice wine is among Aldi's top seasonal wines to look for this fall. Ice wine's frozen grapes have also warmed the hearts of many Aldi shoppers. "It's almost exactly 23 years to the day since I discovered ice wine at a winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada," a commenter shared in the Aldi Aisle of Shame Community Facebook group. "I can't believe I found this in Aldi ... It's so good, and it's from Niagara!"

Social media users have publicly celebrated Aldi's luxurious yet affordable nectar of the Canadian gods. A Reddit user described its taste as "very sweet with a bit of bite," while other commenters expressed enthusiasm over the price tag. One happy Redditor stated, "Before Aldi's, the 'cheap stuff' I would get at my wine shop would be around $30 a bottle. Aldi's is pretty good and only $15!" 

To compare, Total Wine's cheapest ice wine is $35, and it's from New York. A Canadian-made Inniskillin ice wine at the same retailer is $60, but some 375-milliliter bottles of Inniskillin ice wine cost over $100. Since Aldi's ice wine is seasonal, fans should take advantage of the limited period that it's on store shelves. Serve it chilled after dinner, mixed into a martini, or enjoy it with Aldi's high-quality German chocolates.