Icewine but no snow for skiers

A recent cold snap has allowed an icewine producer in Nova Scotia to harvest his grapes, but it's still not cold enough for some other businesses.

Hans Christian Jost was worried the warm temperatures inmid-December meant most of his grapes would be lost before they could be harvested.

But the owner of Jost Vineyards is now expecting a yield of high-quality icewine from his batch of Vidal grapes.

"We were pretty tickled just knowing that we were able to get this off, especially with the predictions for a warm January," he said Wednesday.

In order to produce authentic icewine, the grapes must be harvested during cold nights when temperatures drop to at least -8 C.

Besides the cold temperatures at the end of the month, Jost said he was lucky to have a number of students to help with the harvest.

"There was no school and it's a neat thing to do to go out at night with flashlights strapped to your head and harvest a few grapes," he said.

Other businesses not so lucky

Jost was lucky to get the few nights of cold weather that he needed. The weather isn't co-operating for many other businesses around the province.

"Right now the word that comes to mind for me is frustrating," said Leslie Wilson, manager of Ski Wentworth.

After days of snowmaking,only two of the 22 trails are open. First there was the unseasonably mild start to the winter, now the weekend forecast calls for rain.

"Ifwe had cold weather and some natural snow onthe ground this place would be busy and we'd be making some money," Wilson said.

The Halifax Regional Municipality has saved about $300,000 because it doesn't need to salt the city streets.

"Our budget for winter works control is$12.7 million and we're about $3 million into that now," said Gordon Hayward, the municipality's snow and ice co-ordinator.

"Our salt usage right now is down about 25 per centfrom this time last year."