After a healthy winter with plenty of snow, spring arrived quickly as an extended warm period in April brought excitement and anxiety. The vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but expertly dodged the frost. A cool, wet, and cloudy pattern settled in after budbreak, slowing early season growth and increasing disease pressure, making prudent shoot thinning especially important. The vines hurriedly caught up when June and July brought sun, rain, and heat. The rain disappeared in August, just as the fruit began to ripen, and we fell steadily into the most extreme drought in Vermont’s recorded history – bad news for our neighbors and our yields, but good news for wine quality. Ripening slowed, preserving acidity and aromatics, concentrating flavor, and allowing us to pick exactly when we wanted. The 2025 vintage will be remembered for its exceptional drought and for its wines of complexity, depth, and beauty.

Earlier pick La Crescent from the Lower Vineyard, specifically the east side of the block. These vines are less vigorous so the fruit has more sun exposure and tends to ripen a bit earlier. Like the rest of the block, planted in 2004 in the silty clay of the Lower Vineyard and trained to Geneva Double Curtain.

Block: Lower Vineyard La Crescent

Soil: Silty clay

Vine Establishment: 2004

Training System: Geneva Double Curtain

Farming Practices: Regenerative

Harvest: Handpicked into small lugs to avoid crushing

Fermentation: 100% stainless. Pressed whole cluster and fermented cold and slow before being arrested to retain as much fruity, floral character as possible.

Aging: 6 months in stainless

Harvest Date(s): Sep 28

Composition: 100% La Crescent

Alcohol: 11.5%

pH: 3.25

Titratable Acidity: 7.7 g/L

Residual Sugar: 25 g/L

Cases Produced: 37