2025 Bordeaux Vintage

Winter was dry, with 212mm less rain between 1 October 2024 and 31 March 2025 than the ten-year average, but after the deluge of the previous winter that was still enough to recharge the water table, so the vines entered the cycle without hydric stress. Temperatures rose rapidly through the second half of February before a short cold snap in mid-March held back a dangerously early budburst. Budburst then ran from 25 March in mild, dry conditions, five to six days ahead of the 25-year average, and passed off evenly with a high proportion of double buds. An extremely wet Easter dropped 70 to 80mm, which proved useful in making soil nitrogen available, and the dry weather that followed kept mildew away everywhere except the southern Graves. Flowering started around 13 to 14 May, roughly a week early, and moved through quickly and evenly. Hot, dry conditions ran on into mid-June, establishing hydric stress before bunch closure in many places and thickening the skins. Veraison began early, around 7 to 8 July for Merlot, with mid-veraison reached a full three weeks ahead of 2024. The first two weeks of August were extremely hot, 10 days above 35C with an average maximum close to 36C, though night-time temperatures stayed near the ten-year average and the wide diurnal range spared the foliage. The weather broke between 28 August and 2 September as the tail-end of Hurricane Erin passed through, dropping up to 70mm in the northern Medoc and 25mm on the Pomerol plateau. Most of the dry whites were already in, picked in Pessac-Leognan between 12 and 21 August and in Margaux around 18 to 19 August. The first Merlot bunches came in during the first week of September, with Chateau Lafleur starting on 26 August and Chateau Troplong Mondot on 28 August, and the Cabernets followed from mid-September. Sauternes and Barsac picked in successive tries from 20 September. Yields were low everywhere: 33.3 hl/ha across all AOP Bordeaux rouge and rose, with Pomerol at 25.9 hl/ha sitting 29.2 percent under its ten-year average.

• Budburst from 25 March in mild, dry conditions, five to six days ahead of the 25-year average and notably even
• Flowering around 13 to 14 May, about a week early, rapid and uniform, giving a generous fruit set on shoots carrying fewer bunches after 2024
• Ten days above 35C in the first half of August, with large diurnal swings protecting the canopy; hydric stress became pronounced
• Hurricane Erin's tail brought 25 to 70mm between 28 August and 2 September, swelling berries by around 10 percent and halting a steep rise in potential alcohol
• Harvest ran historically early: whites from 12 August, first Merlot in late August and the first week of September, Cabernet from mid-September, Sauternes tries from 20 September
• Yields came in 8 to 29 percent below ten-year averages by appellation, with Pomerol, Saint-Julien, Pessac-Leognan blanc and Margaux all under 30 hl/ha

Two separate forces pushed 2025 to its record low. The first is structural. The area under vine in Bordeaux has continued to shrink, to the point that the region produced roughly twice as many bottles from the 2016 vintage as it did from 2025. The second is agronomic. The shoots that carried the 2025 crop were formed during the compound difficulties of 2024, so fertility was low and there were fewer bunches per plant before the season had even begun. Colin Hay identifies that legacy as the single greatest factor reducing yields in 2025. Sustained hydric stress then kept the berries themselves very small, with Merlot at 116g per 100 grapes against 172g in 2024. Unlike 2024, almost nothing was left on the vine. The general absence of mildew meant the yield loss was purely a matter of volume rather than a mix of volume and quality, and in the top appellations very little fruit went unpicked.

• Bordeaux produced around twice as many bottles of the 2016 vintage as it did of 2025, reflecting continued loss of vineyard area
• Low shoot fertility carried over from the difficult 2024 season, leaving fewer bunches per vine before the season started
• Early and sustained hydric stress kept berry size exceptionally small across both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon
• With almost no mildew pressure, the shortfall was in volume alone, and in the leading appellations very little fruit was left unpicked

The numbers explain the style. Significant hydric stress limited photosynthesis through ripening, and that, combined with the late-August rain, moderated sugar accumulation and held actual alcohol down even in Merlot. Total acidity is low and pH high, though both vary considerably, largely as a result of the rain at the end of August, which pulled pH levels at harvest back to around the five-year average. Tannin levels are high, a product of thick skins, small berries, and the resulting ratio of solid matter to juice. Anthocyanin concentration sits a little above normal, more so in Cabernet Sauvignon, but the ratio of tannins to anthocyanins is higher still. On parcels showing hydric stress the pips reached full ripeness despite short hang times, with no astringency. Sauvignon Blanc came in at 13.4 percent potential alcohol with total acidity of 4.8 g/L and pH 3.10, against a ten-year average of 13.3 percent, 4.5 g/L and pH 3.21, so the whites picked before the rain kept their acidity and avoided the pH rise.

• Merlot musts at 228 g/L sugar and 3.1 g/L total acidity; Cabernet Sauvignon at 216 g/L and 3.9 g/L, from ISVV sample plots
• High tannin, low total acidity and raised pH are the defining analytical markers, with the late-August rain responsible for the acid and pH shift
• Anthocyanins slightly above normal but tannin-to-anthocyanin ratios higher still, so extraction had to be handled carefully
• Sauvignon Blanc at 13.4 percent potential alcohol, 4.8 g/L total acidity and pH 3.10, better balanced than the ten-year reference on both acidity and pH

Yields were universally low but not uniformly so. Pomerol suffered most, posting both the lowest average yield at 25.9 hl/ha and the largest fall against its ten-year average at 29.2 percent. Saint-Julien came in at 26.4 hl/ha, Pessac-Leognan blanc at 27.0 hl/ha, and Margaux at 28.8 hl/ha, all under 30. Saint-Estephe at 36.8 hl/ha and Saint-Emilion Grand Cru at 34.7 hl/ha held up comparatively well. Access to clay subsoils mattered enormously. Two winters of accumulated water in the table, topped up in April, gave deep-rooted vines the reserves to push through the summer without blocked maturity and to hold a canopy capable of shading the fruit to full ripeness. That favoured old vines, even though their own low fertility produced particularly small crops. The risks ran in both directions: rapid maturation and a loss of aromatic brilliance for Merlot on soils with poor water retention, and the opposite danger on water-retaining soils of picking before full phenolic ripeness and ending up with astringency.

• Pomerol posted the lowest appellation yield at 25.9 hl/ha and the steepest drop against its ten-year average at 29.2 percent
• Saint-Estephe (36.8 hl/ha) and Saint-Emilion Grand Cru (34.7 hl/ha) were the least affected of the major red appellations
• Clay subsoils and deep roots were the decisive terroir advantage, sustaining canopies and preventing blocked maturity
• Merlot on free-draining, low-retention soils risked losing freshness; on water-retaining soils the risk was picking short of phenolic ripeness

The dry whites were largely picked before the rain episode at the end of August, and the early dates were decisive for both acidity and aromatic complexity. Colin Hay describes them as wines of real aromatic complexity and good equilibrium despite the heat of the second half of August, with scarcity their principal weakness. Producers in Pessac-Leognan and Graves report Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon reaching aromatic maturity without disease, helped by cool nights, though some estates recorded juice yields up to 50 percent below normal, and the appellation's white yield of 27.0 hl/ha was 27.6 percent below its ten-year average. High skin tannin meant macerations had to be handled carefully because of the raised oxidation risk. In Sauternes and Barsac, conditions for botrytis were good following the late-August rain, and the return of dry weather in September allowed it to concentrate; picking ran in successive tries from 20 September. Estate reports describe moderate botrytis levels and severely limited volumes, with Sauternes and Barsac yields at 12.5 hl/ha against a ten-year average of 13.7 hl/ha.

• Most dry whites were picked before the late-August rain, holding acidity and aromatic definition; Pessac-Leognan whites started from 12 August
• Pessac-Leognan blanc yields fell to 27.0 hl/ha, 27.6 percent below the ten-year average, with some estates reporting juice yields halved
• High skin tannin raised the oxidation risk on white macerations, requiring careful handling
• Sauternes and Barsac picked in successive tries from 20 September at 12.5 hl/ha, against a ten-year average of 13.7 hl/ha

These are preliminary assessments made from cellar and barrel, not from finished bottles, and should be read as such. Across Saint-Estephe, Cos d'Estournel reported deep colour, ripe tannins, and notable concentration, describing 2025 as a year of precision viticulture; Montrose described structured, dense, healthy fruit with low yields and high aromatic purity. In Pauillac, Lafite Rothschild reported deep colour, layered aromatics, and moderate alcohol; Latour described a classic, age-worthy wine from small, thick-skinned berries. Chateau Margaux called its 2025 un Grand Millesime, crediting research work including early mildew detection. Chateau Haut-Brion declared 2025 a great vintage in Pessac-Leognan. On the Right Bank, Cheval Blanc described an outstanding harvest with freshness, structure, and aromatic complexity, and Petrus reported limited yields of outstanding quality with moderate alcohol and ripe tannins. The recurring theme in these reports is gentle extraction: thick skins and abundant tannin meant the risk everywhere was overshooting rather than falling short.

• Cos d'Estournel and Chateau Pichon Baron both framed 2025 as a precision viticulture year, with canopy management and picking dates decisive
• Chateau Margaux called the vintage un Grand Millesime; Chateau Haut-Brion described it as a great vintage
• Cheval Blanc, Petrus and Latour all reported concentration and freshness with moderate alcohol, from small, thick-skinned berries
• Gentle extraction was the near-universal cellar decision, since thick skins and high tannin made over-extraction the main risk