2025 was a remarkably dry harvest season. We started with the early Sparkling Wine varieties in perfect condition on 4 February. One week later we had 17mm, just before we commenced the table wine harvest. After that, it was pretty much dry all the way through the rest of Vintage on 17 March.
The growing season overall was excellent, with mostly dry and warm conditions. The temperatures remained consistently warm throughout, with only two peaks over 28°C: one in December, and again in February. This steady warmth without extremes was ideal for developing fruit aromas and flavours. The dry conditions and moderate yields have contributed richness and texture to the mix, resulting in an outstanding Vintage in 2025.
After two consecutive small harvests, it was very gratifying to get back on track with a “normal” sized vintage, but without any excessive yield. We have a cellar full of quality Chardonnay barrels that are fermenting and maturing beautifully.
This year our grape intake was split between two regions: 300 tonnes from Kumeu, and 200 tonnes from Hawkes Bay.
Kumeu is the source of all our Crémant, produced from early-picked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
All of our Pinot Gris also comes from Kumeu, plus a very large proportion of our Chardonnay production, of course.
From Hawkes Bay we get Chardonnay for the Village and Rays Road labels. We purchase grapes for the Village Chardonnay from Bridge Pa, and we now have a significant supply of Chardonnay from our own vineyard at Rays Road. These days, all of our Pinot Noir-based red wine comes exclusively from this vineyard in Raukawa, in the limestone hills to the west of Hastings.
This year we are particularly excited about the Chardonnay wines from both regions, and especially the Single Vineyard wines which are keenly typical of their sites.
We have also seen a steep improvement in the quality of Pinot Noir from Rays Road with the increasing quantities of Clones 828 and 943 contributing lifted red-fruit aromas in abundance, and textural gravity to the palate.
Still with the zesty minerality on the palate. Similarly with Pinot Noir, we now have new plantings of the most up-to-date Dijon selections from Burgundy: Clones 828 and 935. While still in very small quantities, it is obvious even now that these will have an enormous positive impact on the quality of our Rays Road Pinot Noir. These are exciting times indeed.