A Dream Harvest: Harvest 2025 Report

"This has been a dream harvest!"

The precision and organization we achieved this season was remarkable. We brought in all the estate fruit destined for our sparkling wine over the course of just three weeks. The volume of ripening grapes hit the sweet spot for our winery's size, structure, and capacity, allowing us to maintain the methodical approach that sparkling winemaking demands.

What made this harvest truly special was our ability to pace our pick decisions thoughtfully. "During the growing season we had ample rainfall and moderate temperatures allowing for gradual, even ripening and crop yields that were more balanced versus the two prior years," notes Michaella Goldner, our Associate Winemaker. "We had close to perfect weather during the harvest season, with moderate heat and our signature Carneros fog—we saw acid retention in the fruit and we were able to pace our timing of pick decisions, targeting the right balance of chemistry and flavor profiles."

The quality indicators we're seeing are extraordinary. Beyond the excellent acid retention that's critical for sparkling wine, we're finding remarkable intensity and complexity of aromatics and flavors during the first round of fermentations—early signs that point to exceptional quality in the final wines.

"Already this seems to be a vintage of exceptional quality. I am so excited to start blending trials! WOOHOO!!"

Our Sparkling Winemaker Zak echoes the excitement, highlighting three key factors that made the 2025 vintage stand out:

"A wet, saturating winter. Always a good start to the season," Zak notes, emphasizing how proper winter moisture set the foundation in the vineyard for the entire growing year.

The growing season itself was notably "coolish"—and while "not as cool as it felt, it was devoid of heat spikes which is a huge bonus." This steady, moderate temperature profile allowed the grapes to develop complexity while retaining the natural acidity essential for our cool climate sparkling wines.

Perhaps most unusually, we experienced a "cool picking season which rarely happens" without summer heat spikes speeding up the process. This gift from nature "allowed us to pick the ripe fruit at a slower pace. Moderate and consistent picking is both a relief for our vineyard and production teams, as well as easier to plan for logistically speaking in the cellar."

Reflecting on the season as a whole, Zak sums it up perfectly: "I would say all-in-all this is about as perfect of a harvest as we could hope for. As Michaella said, we are super excited to get to blends, as that is the final arbiter of quality."

As we transition from harvest to the careful work of fermentation and blending trials, the entire Domaine Carneros team is buzzing with anticipation. While the grapes have delivered exceptional raw material, the true test of this vintage's potential will come during blending—the art and science that transforms individual vineyard lots into the elegant, complex sparkling wines Domaine Carneros is known for.

The 2025 vintage promises to be one for the books. We can't wait to share these wines with you in the years to come.