The 2025 harvest

Six weeks, nine blocks and one very hot week in September: how the 2025 vintage came in, block by block.

Gloved hands cutting a heavy bunch of dark grapes into a crate in early morning sun through the leaves.

We picked the first sparkling grapes on the crest on 16 August and the last syrah on 29 September. In between: a cool August, one week of real heat, and a crew that turned up at five every morning.

The whites

The sauvignon blanc and chardonnay came in fresh and bright, at 21.5 and 23 °Brix. Small berries, lovely acidity.

The heat

In the second week of September it reached 104 °F for three days. We picked the grenache for rosé early, in the dark, with head torches, before it lost its freshness.

The syrah

The old vines on the steep took the heat in their stride; their roots are deep. We waited, tasted every morning, and picked blocks 6 and 7 on 24 and 25 September at 24.5 °Brix: 4,800 bottles’ worth, now in barrel under the hill.