Vintage Report 2025

What makes a good harvest? In Central Otago, it’s not always easy to tell when the sun is shining, the views are jaw-droppingly beautiful, and the vineyards—mostly planted in Pinot Noir—look picture perfect. But as always, the real test is in the bottle. (Joelle Thomson)

The 2025 vintage was another season of both challenge and reward. A frost event in early November, much like in 2024, affected flowering and reduced our yields—especially for Pinot Noir and Pinot Rosé. However, it wasn’t as bad as initially feared, thanks to superb weather during flowering that helped set a decent crop. As Rudi Bauer puts it, we were “happy so far,” though we always take the “let’s wait and see” approach until the wines are in bottle.

Despite the lower yields, fruit quality was excellent across the region. A dry growing season with consistently moderate temperatures meant the vines enjoyed stable conditions, avoiding extremes of heat or cold. This slower ripening led to measured, careful picking—without needing to rush. At Quartz Reef, harvest began on March 5th with Pinot Noir for sparkling and wrapped up on April 17th with Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner. Still Pinot Noir was picked between March 28th and 31st.

Cool nights and warm days during ripening helped preserve natural acidity—key for elegance and longevity. “The grapes retained very good acidity,” says Rudi, “which is good for the structure and future of our wines.” We’re especially excited to be making a Vintage Blanc de Blancs again in 2025, which will age on lees for five years and show that hallmark Quartz Reef purity and vibrancy.

Our vineyard crew worked tirelessly through spring and summer, applying Biodynamic Preparation 500 in October and three rounds of Preparation 501 in November and December. These preparations support vine resilience, encourage microbial life in the soil, and help balance the vineyard ecosystem—especially important after two seasons of hard frost.

This year we were lucky to have Michael from Austria, Lorenz from Germany, and Josh and Emma from NZ join us for harvest. The team moved between the vineyard and winery, with Callum stepping into the role of machinery operator—keeping things humming along smoothly.

Now the Pinots are safely tucked away in barrel, and the still Rosé and Méthode Traditionnelle wines—including our much-anticipated 2025 Blanc de Blancs—are in the works. It’s still early days, but all signs point to 2025 being another excellent Central Otago vintage: one of balance, freshness, and quiet strength.

Time, as always, will tell.