The Comeback Vintage

There’s a joke in the wine industry that pokes fun at the producers who claim year after year that “this is the vintage of the century!”

I am not claiming that 2025 is the best vintage ever, but it ended up being exceptional. While the wines are still finishing up the last bit of fermentation, they are already showing much promise. For what it’s worth, I’m more excited about this vintage than any years prior.

We’re already seeing the breadth and ripeness of 2023, but with the linearity and freshness of 2024. You cant have your cake and eat it too, but in 2025 I like to think that we did. This vintage was one where we were down 28-3 at half, but come back to win the game in overtime.

The season started out miserably with winter damage, frost damage for the first time ever, prospects for low yields, and an ungodly amount of rain that never seemed to stop. Disease pressure was through the roof, and in early August I was wondering how we’d ever breach 12% abv. But then mid-August happened, and we got 6 straight weeks of sunny days, cool nights, and virtually no rain. Fruit was ripening slowly, building complexity, retaining acidity, and maintaining skin integrity.

The whites are already full of energy and concentration. The reds were extracted gently in concrete tanks, at cooler temperatures, to help preserve fruit and develop soft tannins. Total maceration times were 20-25% less than what we’ve done in the past.

Elegance over power. Less is more. A cultured and finessed wine is what I think our site is best suited for, not to mention this is the style I gravitate towards.

Every vintage tells a story. 2025 was the comeback vintage. I hope that we captured the best of it. Only time will tell.

Adam