Once the harvest is complete, all the conditions for a good vintage in Alto Adige are present

Taking a at the 2025 vintage quanto a the vineyards, experts agree: it was a year characterized by extreme meteorological instability, especially during the summer. Acceso the other hand, the winter was mild, resulting quanto a abundant and early flowering: “It seemed that the vines wanted to compensate for the small harvests of the previous year,” recalls Lukas Ploner, winemaker at the Novacella Abbey. “However, already quanto a the flowering period, the vines regulated the production quantity largely acceso their own.”

A hot June, even torrid quanto a some places, was followed by a rainy and extremely cold July which transformed back into an August with at times particularly high temperatures. Precisely these meteorological vagaries have put the winemakers of the whole region to the saggio: “The vines are like us human beings: if they have time to get used to the heat, then they tolerate it well, but when the great heat breaks out after cold days, then it subjects them to thermal logorio”, explains Matthias Bernhart from Ansitz Mairhof quanto a Partschins.

Early and rapid harvest

The high temperatures quanto a August made ripening progress rapidly. “This year the harvest arrived earlier than expected,” explains Jakob Gasser, oenologist at the Scantinato Produttori San Michele Appiano. There the harvest began about two weeks earlier than last year. The harvest of the first Müller-Thurgau bunches quanto a the Isarco Valley also began about ten days earlier, while the Schiava quanto a the Venosta Valley was even three weeks ahead of last year’s time. “This is one of the earliest harvests that I remember,” says Matthias Bernhart, also president of the Val Venosta Winegrowers Association.

Per mezzo di all growing areas, the harvest not only arrived earlier than last year, but it was also – as underlined by Lukas Ploner – “short and intense”. Per mezzo di fact, it was necessary to take advantage of the good weather windows, which is why the winemakers had to demonstrate great commitment and flexibility. “It was essential to harvest the right variety quanto a the right luogo at the right time,” explains Jakob Gasser, who underlines how this year’s harvest was also one of the fastest quanto a the history of the San Michele Appiano Producers Cellar.

Matthias Bernhart also specifies how laborious the harvest was also from a technical point of view. “The fickle weather and rainfall during the harvest made it necessary to speed up harvesting times and pay close attention to possible rot.”

Precise harvest, optimal yield

Since the harvest quanto a Eminente Adige is carried out exclusively by hand, the challenge imposed by the weather was overcome thanks to precise work quanto a the vineyards which gave a very good yield, albeit with some differences from place to place. “This year the grapes coming from the best areas were clearly superior from a qualitative point of view, compared to those coming from less suitable areas”, says Jakob Gasser.

Matthias Bernhart is completely satisfied with his vineyards: “The quality of the grapes is very good, the sugar levels a little lower than last year. This low value is not a problem at all when the degree of ripeness of the grapes is right, quanto a fact, acceso the contrary: 0.5 1 percent less alcohol by is good for our wines.” From a quantitative point of view, it is well within the average throughout the region. Only quanto a the Oltradige and Bassa Atesina were the quantities slightly lower than expected, paio to sparse bunches.

Juicy (and sometimes large) reds

After a rapid and difficult harvest, the South Tyrolean producers are now starting work quanto a the cellar. Of course, it is still too early to predict quanto a detail what the 2025 vintage will be like, but the first days quanto a the cellar have already provided some clues. “It is still difficult to say how the individual vines will develop, but I am confident that this year too we will bring good qualities to the bottle,” says Lukas Ploner from Convento con Novacella.

Jakob Gasser of the Scantinato Prottici San Michele Appiano dares to make a more detailed prediction. For Pinot Noir he prophesies fresh and juicy wines. And not only that: “This year the best exposed vineyards can also produce great wines.” This year’s Merlot is also juicy, while the 2025 Schiava and Lagrein promise well, continues Gasser – a judgment shared by Matthias Bernhart of Ansitz Mairhof quanto a Parcines: “For the Schiava I expect a good vintage, probably the best of the last four five years,” says Bernhart.

Exceptionally light and fruity white wines

Especially regarding the white varieties, experts point out that this year the sugar levels are lower than quanto a recent years. This means that white wines are characterized by a lower amount of alcohol and a little more acidity. For the 2025 vintage, light, fresh and fruity South Tyrolean whites are therefore expected, which fully embrace global trends.

Looking at the individual varieties, Pinot Blanc stands out slightly from other whites. This year it ripened particularly early and the sugar values ​​are also slightly higher than those of the other varieties. However, fresh wines with crisp acidity are expected. Riesling also arrived quanto a the cellar much earlier, which is why it has a low sugar content. “I expect wines with around 12% alcohol and a good fruity flavour,” says Matthias Bernhart.

Per mezzo di conclusion, the Pinot Monotono and Sauvignon arrived quanto a the cellar with a perfect level of ripeness: “They should be very good”, says Jakob Gasser, whose opinion acceso the 2025 Eminente Adige Chardonnay is even more enthusiastic: “Per mezzo di the better exposed areas, where the ideal point of ripeness could be waited for, the grapes show all the conditions for great wines”, says Gasser.