2025 Sonoma Vintage

Sonoma County Winegrowers summed up 2025 in its own subheading: steady winter rains followed by a mild, balanced summer resulting in consistent ripening and exceptional flavors. The winter was wet, and importantly it carried few evenings under frost watch, which took the usual spring anxiety off the table. Jake Terrell of St. Francis Winery in Sonoma Valley reported the vintage starting out with average rainfall and staying cool through the spring. Steve Sangiacomo of Sangiacomo Family Wines described an early, mild spring and an early bloom that let the season start early. What followed was a summer without heatwaves. Tyler Klick of Redwood Empire Vineyard Management in Dry Creek Valley reported a very moderate climate and a very cool July, without the heat spikes seen in other vintages. Bret Munselle in Alexander Valley described a very cool summer that let flavors develop ahead of sugars, with Cabernet ripening earlier than expected at lower sugar levels. Steve Dutton in Russian River Valley simply said it was cooler than it had been in other years. Joy Sterling of Iron Horse Vineyards went furthest, calling it the coolest, foggiest growing season on record in the Green Valley of Russian River Valley. The milder temperatures continued throughout summer, and the result was consistent ripening across the county. Occasional cooler evenings in late summer and early fall helped the fruit hold acidity and structure, and growers reported uniform ripening across vineyard blocks along with exceptional flavor development. Sangiacomo credited the long growing season with a lot of hang time and great phenolic development. Harvest began right on schedule in mid August with the sparkling varieties. Munselle started around the third week of August and ran about ten weeks. Then October arrived. A series of rainstorms was forecast through much of the remainder of the month, and the pace of harvest quickened as growers and vintners worked to get as much fruit in as they could before the rain. Yields came in good to great, with some vineyards reporting slightly larger crops. Terrell described a pretty large year with a lot of fruit on the vines and said his team was diligent about reducing yields to make sure the fruit would ripen.

• A wet winter with few frost watch evenings preceded an early, mild spring and early bloom
• Summer was mild without heatwaves, with a very cool July reported in Dry Creek Valley and no heat spikes
• Cooler evenings in late summer and early fall preserved acidity and structure, with uniform ripening across blocks
• Harvest began on schedule in mid August with sparkling varieties, and Alexander Valley started around the third week of August for a ten-week run
• Forecast October rainstorms sharply quickened the pace of picking through the back half of harvest
• Yields were good to great, with some vineyards slightly larger and St. Francis dropping fruit to ensure ripening on a large crop

Sonoma County spans 19 American Viticultural Areas and more than 1,800 grape growers, and the 2025 reports came in from across that spread. In Sonoma Valley, Sangiacomo called the growing season great overall and pointed to the early bloom, the cool summer and the long hang time. In Russian River Valley, Dutton reported excellent quality fruit from a cooler year, and supervisor Guillermo Valasquez at Dutton Ranch described a cool and temperate season. In Dry Creek Valley, Klick argued the moderate climate and cool July make for great quality wines, especially into the later part of ripening. In Alexander Valley, Munselle was waiting to see what the wines would look like from Cabernet that ripened early at lower sugars. In Fountaingrove, Monica Lopez of Aldina Vineyards described a very cool season for Bordeaux varieties and said she was looking forward to tasting the thin-skinned varieties. In Petaluma Gap, Rickey Trombetta of Trombetta Family Wines called the harvest spectacular in many ways but noted the long, cool season required extensive canopy management to increase airflow around the grapes.

• Sonoma Valley: Sangiacomo Family Wines reported an early start, a cool summer and a lot of hang time with great phenolic development
• Green Valley of Russian River Valley: Iron Horse Vineyards recorded the coolest, foggiest growing season on record at the site
• Petaluma Gap: Trombetta Family Wines needed extensive canopy management for airflow during a long, cool season
• Fountaingrove: Aldina Vineyards described a very cool season for Bordeaux varieties

These reads were filed with harvest barely complete in early November 2025, so treat them as preliminary. The through line is lower sugars at flavor ripeness. Munselle reported Cabernet ripening earlier than expected at lower sugars and said he could not wait to see what the wines look like. Terrell at St. Francis expects a lower alcohol vintage for Cabernet, and nicknamed 2025 the Somm Vintage for its trendy, cool, lower-alcohol character, calling it an interesting year that will be a great one overall. Sterling at Iron Horse said the fruit was already translating beautifully in the cellar despite a growing season that was not easy. Sangiacomo pointed to the long hang time and phenolic development as the quality drivers. No source consulted offered drinking windows or cellaring guidance this early.

• Alexander Valley Cabernet ripened earlier than expected at lower sugar levels, per Bret Munselle
• St. Francis Winery expects a lower alcohol vintage for Cabernet and calls 2025 the Somm Vintage
• Iron Horse reported the fruit translating beautifully in the cellar shortly after harvest
• Long hang time and phenolic development are the quality drivers cited most often by growers

Karissa Kruse, president and CEO of Sonoma County Winegrowers, framed the year around the human effort it took. She said that no matter how many years she has experienced it, there is nothing quite like the grit and grace required for a successful harvest, describing an urgency balanced by cooperation among vineyard employees, growers and vintners working in concert to get fruit off the vine before the cold, wet rains begin. She also pointed to the pride growers take in knowing the grapes will make some of the world's best wines. That framing had teeth in 2025, because the October rain forecast turned the back half of harvest into a coordinated sprint across the county.

• Kruse described urgency balanced by cooperation among vineyard employees, growers and vintners as the defining dynamic of the harvest
• The October rain forecast compressed the end of harvest county-wide
• Sonoma County Winegrowers published a harvest recap series on Instagram and Facebook featuring growers and vineyard employees
• Sonoma County has more than 1,800 grape growers across 19 distinct American Viticultural Areas