2025 Willamette Valley / Oregon Vintage

Oregon started 2025 early and never really slowed down. Et Fille's Jessica Mozeico reported that growing degree days were running about 20 percent higher than the 30-year average through July, though still 20 percent lower than the warm 2015 vintage. Spring varied by site. At Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine, Andy Lytle described a warm and early spring with no major rain or cool events in April and May, budbreak in early April and flowering from the end of May through the first week of June. Sweet Cheeks Winery in the south valley reported the opposite, a wetter-than-average spring that delayed budbreak by about two weeks against their own average, though bloom then came early and moved quickly. Water was scarce. Bill Sweat of Winderlea Vineyard & Winery recorded about 19 inches of winter rain where the site normally gets 35 to 40, and started the year cautiously optimistic with less soil moisture than he would have liked. Summer itself was moderate rather than punishing. Corollary Wines called it fairly moderate, and Winderlea noted one or two heat events in the early part of the summer before the weather cooperated. The turn came at the end of August, when a run of days above 95 degrees accelerated everything. The Oregon Wine Board reported that heat extremes during peak veraison caused sunburn in some vineyards, and that higher-than-average nighttime temperatures expedited fruit development across many varieties. In the Willamette Valley, John Grochau of GC Wines told Decanter that late August heat advanced sugars ahead of phenolic ripeness and had him worried about rushing to pick, until cool weather and a little rain arrived on September 6 and slowed things down. Harvest then came in a rush. Statewide windows ran roughly August 25 to 30 through early to mid October. Winderlea started September 1, its second-earliest harvest ever, and finished in 15 days. Benton-Lane's Gretchen Boock came back from Labor Day to a 16-day window. Love & Squalor started picking September 9, nearly two weeks earlier than usual, and had the fruit in by the start of October. Rain during harvest was light and intermittent: Lytle-Barnett reported a few brief rain events that did nothing but knock the dust off the clusters, and Benton-Lane recorded a couple of days of rain, just enough to wet the leaves. On yields, the Oregon Wine Board reported fruit set generally average with berry and cluster size skewing average to down, and results that varied by site: some producers near or modestly above normal, others down from heat or a lighter natural set. Winderlea and Benton-Lane both reported yields lower than normal.

• Growing degree days ran about 20 percent above the 30-year average through July according to Et Fille, but 20 percent below the warm 2015 season
• Budbreak, bloom and especially veraison all advanced ahead of typical timing statewide, per the Oregon Wine Board
• A run of days above 95 degrees at the end of August pushed sugars ahead of phenolic ripeness, with sunburn reported in some vineyards at peak veraison
• Cool weather and light rain arrived on September 6 and rebalanced ripening, according to John Grochau of GC Wines
• Harvest ran August 25 to 30 through early to mid October statewide, one to two weeks earlier than normal for many producers
• Berry and cluster size skewed small, and both Winderlea and Benton-Lane reported yields down against normal

The compression is what growers kept returning to. Corollary Wines put numbers on it: 13 days from first to last pick, 12 picks and 13 press loads. Winderlea's entire harvest took 15 days. Benton-Lane's window was 16 days. Angie Reat of Love & Squalor called 2025 one of the earliest and shortest in more than 20 years of working with grapes in the Willamette Valley, with the bins full and the fruit in by the start of October, something she noted almost never happens in Oregon. At Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine, the usual seven to ten day gap between sparkling and still picking disappeared entirely: Aubaine's still wine harvest began on September 12 the moment Lytle-Barnett finished, and everything at the Anahata and Windfall vineyards was picked by September 24. Bruce Sonnen of Van Duzer Vineyards summed it up for the Oregon Wine Board as fast and condensed but a blast to get done with. Statewide, Jason Cole of Pacific Crest Vineyard Services noted the most unusual consequence of the pace: there was no November picking at all.

• Corollary Wines completed its entire 2025 harvest in 13 days across 12 picks and 13 press loads
• Love & Squalor began picking September 9, nearly two weeks earlier than usual, and had all fruit in by the start of October
• Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine lost their usual seven to ten day break between programs, with still-wine picking starting September 12 and finishing September 24
• Pacific Crest Vineyard Services reported no November harvesting at all, which is unusual for Oregon

These are preliminary assessments made within weeks of picking, so treat them as first impressions. The Oregon Wine Board reported that winemakers described sentiment about the vintage as ranging from good to ecstatic, and pointed to small berries, clean clusters and concentrated flavors as the markers of a year with strong character and purity. Grochau told Decanter he expected 2025 to look pretty similar to 2023 when it was all said and done, citing a warm, steady, dry summer that produced small grapes with thick skins and a lighter crop with good concentration in the berries. Corollary Wines offered a different comparison, suggesting 2025 might resemble 2018 and describing it as more muscular than the very graceful 2024. Boock at Benton-Lane called it a profound vintage, arguing that big, complex flavors combined with lower yields across the valley would add to concentration, and singled out the Chardonnay as a highlight. Lytle-Barnett and Aubaine reported yields landing exactly on their lag weights and called the quality and chemistry fantastic. Winderlea reported lower yields with outstanding, clean fruit quality.

• The Oregon Wine Board reported small berries, clean clusters and concentrated flavors as the signature of the vintage
• GC Wines expects 2025 to resemble 2023, with small thick-skinned grapes from a warm, steady, dry summer
• Corollary Wines suggested a resemblance to 2018 and called 2025 more muscular than the graceful 2024
• Benton-Lane singled out Chardonnay, reporting the wines showing beautiful, early and complex

For a year with intermittent rain late in the season, disease pressure stayed remarkably low. The Oregon Wine Board described it as consistently low to average across the state. Powdery mildew appeared at typical levels, with some growers in Southern Oregon noting higher pressure. Botrytis came in below average for many respondents even with late-season rain events and warmer temperatures. Bird pressure was generally down on average across the state. Jason Cole of Pacific Crest Vineyard Services flagged the one downside of the rapid degree-day accumulation, which was a rise in powdery mildew and disease pressure, though he also credited the pace for good quality in later-ripening varieties. In the Rogue Valley, Brian Gruber of Irvine & Roberts Vineyards reported more rain events than he could remember in a long time, including four during harvest, but no disease issues at his site at all.

• Powdery mildew appeared at typical levels statewide, with higher pressure noted by some Southern Oregon growers
• Botrytis came in below average for many growers despite intermittent late-season rain
• Bird pressure was generally down across the state
• Irvine & Roberts in the Rogue Valley recorded four rain events during harvest with no resulting disease problems

The 2025 harvest landed in a contracting industry. The 2024 Oregon Vineyard and Winery Census Report, published by the Oregon Wine Board in June 2025, counted 1,076 bonded wineries in Oregon, a decline of 6 percent year over year, against 1,537 vineyards growing grapes, an increase of 2 percent. Price per ton for Oregon grapes slipped slightly in 2024, and production fell about 1 percent against 2023. Total cases of Oregon wine across all sales channels fell 4 percent in 2023, with total sales value down 2 percent and average price per case up by less than 2 percent. Direct-to-consumer case sales decreased 3 percent, distribution fell 5 percent within Oregon and 4 percent in other US states. Gina Bianco, executive director of the Oregon Wine Board, said the 2025 vineyard harvest showed another year of extraordinary fruit quality that would result in world-class wines from Oregon winemakers.

• Oregon counted 1,076 bonded wineries in the 2024 census, down 6 percent year over year
• Vineyard count rose 2 percent to 1,537 growing sites over the same period
• Total Oregon wine case sales fell 4 percent in 2023 across all channels, with value down 2 percent
• Full production and value figures for the 2024 vintage are scheduled for the 2025 census report due mid-2026