Vintage 2025

2025 - A Vintage to Remember

New Zealand vineyards are exchanging green canopies for a patchwork of yellow, gold and rust-red hues. And as harvest comes to a close, the pace has shifted from frantic to reflective. In the wineries the buzz of harvest is giving way to quieter cellars, with filled tanks and barrels, quietly brimming with promise.

And that promise is excellent for vintage 2025, according to many winegrowers and makers around the country. Harvest kicked off early for many grape growing regions, with winemakers welcoming good crop levels, thanks to warm conditions over the spring flowering period, and excellent, flavoursome fruit, thanks to good flowering, and fruit set, and a long and largely dry season. Winemakers are quietly optimistic.

Te Mata Estate’s Phil Brodie describes the 2025 season as "unique and potentially legendary”, thanks to a beautiful vine balance, long warm and dry growing seasons, small berries, and plenty of hang time, meaning grapes picked in “amazing condition". He’s not alone in his praise: from Hawke’s Bay to Marlborough and Central Otago, there’s a sense that 2025 might be one of those special years.

Hawke’s Bay and North Island Highlights

Phil’s not the only Hawke’s Bay winemaker who thinks 2025 might eclipse the acclaimed 2013 vintage, with Craggy Range Chief Winemaker Ben Tombs particularly excited by Chardonnay, with “electric flavour profiles at moderate alcohol levels”. It is, he says, “undeniably one of the most exciting Chardonnay vintages we have had”. Meanwhile, the Syrah is perfumed and textured, “showing lots of freshness”, Ben says. He’s also pretty excited about the Craggy Range Pinot Noir harvested in Martinborough, which he describes as “elegant’ and “savoury’”

Kate Radburnd, with more than 40 vintages behind her, says 2025 was the earliest harvest she’s seen. Her Chardonnay came in on 25 February - pristine fruit with lovely acidity. A lull between varieties gave her rare breathing space: "it felt like we had time to concentrate on everything, which doesn’t usually happen."

Her Merlot followed in March, ripe but not overripe, with good acidity. As always, Kate aims for restraint and balance, crafting what she calls "proudly cool-climate wines" designed to age gracefully.

Elswhere on the North Island, Michael Brajkovich of Kumeu River Wines in Auckland reflects on "outstanding fruit” from the driest season since 1958, with Chardonnay as a highlight.

Together, these voices from the North Island reflect a season marked by calm confidence, thoughtful timing, and fruit that arrived in excellent condition - giving winemakers a chance to work with clarity and purpose. While each region had its own rhythm, the shared takeaway was simple: this was a season that let the fruit speak.

Marlborough Momentum - Slower Season, Promising Signs

At the top of the South Island, Marlborough’s vintage pulses through the region each autumn - you can hear it in the trucks, smell it in the ferments, and see it in the café queues of cellar hands from all over the world. It’s a time of energy, long hours, and shared excitement.

This year, though, that pulse was slower. Cooling temperatures and lower sunshine hours extended the season, slowing ripening towards the end of harvest, allowing more time for flavour development and careful picking. That shift in pace gave winemakers more room to make thoughtful calls in the vineyard.

Greywacke founder Kevin Judd, now in his 41st Marlborough vintage, describes the season as "extremely drawn out". Fruit reached good sugar levels with ripe flavour and balanced acidity. Winemaker Richelle Tyney says early Sauvignon Blanc ferments are looking very promising, with tropical notes and natural richness thanks to longer hang time and cooler temperatures.

Jules Taylor agrees - 2025 was a beautiful season, she says, with Chardonnay in particular standing out. In the quiet winery post-harvest, ferments bubble gently, and winemakers watch and wait. "In the beginning, it’s just sweet juice. But then the fruit and alcohol start to hold hands," she says. "That’s when you know it’s becoming wine”. Her pick for this year is “beautiful” Chardonnay, thanks to a kind season, even fruit set, and a long ripening period.

The stillness of Marlborough’s post-vintage moment carries its own kind of excitement. With wines resting and evolving, the region is holding its breath - and hoping.

"The 2025 harvest was full of promise, and whilst time will tell how good the 2025 vintage will turn out to be, New Zealand’s winemakers are quietly confident it will be one to remember. "

From Marlborough to Central Otago: Patience and Reward

Anne Escalle, who leads the Edmond de Rothschild Heritage team in New Zealand, says Marlborough threw a few curveballs this season - cooler nights slowed ripening, but days stayed sunny enough to bring their Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc into elegant, aromatic shape.

Down in Bannockburn, Central Otago, Edmond de Rothschild Heritage also makes Pinot Noir from Akarua. Frost made an early appearance, but was followed by strong spring growth and a classic dry summer in the lead up to harvest, with fresh mornings and warm afternoons. That gave the team valuable flexibility to harvest each block at its best. "It’s a luxury to pick when the flavour is just right," Anne says.

Conditions in Central Otago allowed for a calm, unrushed harvest - a contrast to the often narrow windows of previous years. For Pinot Noir in particular, it was a chance to let the fruit fully develop, block by block.

The real story of 2025 will unfold in bottle, but from north to south, winemakers are feeling something special about this vintage. The early signs are promising - and there’s every reason to be hopeful. This could be one of those years we look back on, glass in hand, and remember just how right everything felt.

(Note: Harvest images kindly provided by Craggy Range, featuring their Gimblett Gravels and Te Muna harvests this year).