Wolfberger 2025 vintage

September 22, 2025

2025 will be remembered as one of the earliest and fastest grape harvests ever in our history. We began to pick the grapes for the sparkling wines or Crémants on August 22nd and barely four weeks later, on Friday September 19^th, the usual date for picking the first grapes to make our still wines, we had already harvested the last of the Gewurztraminers as well as the first of the vendanges tardives, or late harvest wines.

The potential yield at the beginning was exceptional; the growing season had gone well with little pressure from disease. Rains at the end of July allowed us to put aside any risk of water stress and the health conditions of the vines were excellent. Poor flowering in certain sectors and for certain varietals brought on the possibility of a harvest inferior by 10 to 30% to a normal year. July rains and the lower number of grape bunches accelerated the August maturing.

We held our annual pre-vendange general assembly on August 21^st, where we emphasized the need for reactivity and the urgency of beginning the harvest. Our grape growers responded perfectly to that request — almost too well, with record volumes of Crémant grapes harvested every day. In two weeks as opposed to the usual three, the total Crémant production was brought in!

We are extremely satisfied with the grapes harvested for the Crémant. The manual harvests allowed us to pay particular attention to sorting. The grapes were harvested at near-perfect maturity, with an average of 11° with very little malic acid and good phenolic ripeness. The Auxerrois stood out this year and will have both generosity and opulence, while the Rieslings, Chardonnays and the Pinot Blancs will provide acidity and freshness.

The day after gathering from the last parcels of the Riesling Crémant, Saturday September 6^th, we brought in the Pinot Noirs for the reds. Possibly the high point of this vintage, the Pinot Noirs were particularly beautiful this year, harvested in an almost perfect state of health and ripeness, between 12 and 12.5°.

That intensive rhythm was maintained throughout the vendange. The 100 mm of rain that fell during this time forced us to anticipate a lesser state of health. The grape growers and their teams did a remarkable job and during the two weeks that followed, all the parcels of still wine were harvested, including the Grands Crus and one day of the Late Harvest wines.

Particular attention coupled with the technical specifications we require of the Grands Crus and Vendanges Tardives vines allowed those grapes to better resist the wet climatic conditions. We were extremely satisfied by the aromatic intensity and the quality of the grapes harvested for our first Muscat Grand Cru, from the Grand Cru Hatschbourg.

We haven’t yet finalized the assessment of this vintage, but the poor flowering period and the appearance of the grapes themselves seem to have especially affected the volumes of the Riesling and the Gewurztraminer, which we estimate to be lower by 15 to 30%.

As of now, fermentation in our cellars has begun quite nicely. We will only see the fruit of the efforts of our grape growers in the coming weeks, but we can already say that the wines of the 2025 vintage will be characterized by a certain generosity of fruit and that the choice of harvesting early will also preserve freshness.