Millésime 2025

2025 - A PRECOCIOUS YEAR AND EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY

Date: The 2025 vintage in the Centre-Loire is notable for its precocity and its promise of exceptional quality. Conditions across the year, and notably the contrast between abundant winter water reserves and two heatwaves, combined to produce wines with balance and freshness, despite some challenges.

Viticultural Cycle

Winter temperatures were close to seasonal averages, with above-average rainfall in January replenishing soil water reserves. Spring was warm and sunny, leading to budbreak on 7 April, around ten days earlier than the decade’s average. Rare rainfall limited mildew pressure, while mechanical weeding was facilitated by dry conditions.

Flowering began in mid-June under warm weather, though coulure was more pronounced than usual, particularly in Sauvignon Blanc. May and June were the driest in over 15 years, but established vines benefited from winter reserves. A hailstorm on 23 July affected approximately 350 hectares in Sancerre, Menetou-Salon, and the Coteaux du Giennois.

Maturation and Harvest

A heatwave in August accelerated ripening, resulting in smaller berries with thicker skins, favourable for colour in red wines. Rain on 20 August refreshed the vines without altering berry size. Sugar accumulation was strong, and acidity levels remained stable.

Harvest began on 23 August with Pinot Gris in Reuilly, followed by Sauvignon Blanc from 28 August, and red varieties thereafter. Despite rainfall in early September, picking progressed efficiently, with parcels affected by hail completed by mid-September.

“Vintage 2025 will be remembered for its contrasts,” says François Dal from SICAVAC, the technical arm of Centre-Loire Wines. “Despite episodes of heat and hail, this is a harvest of remarkable promise, with wines that combine purity, freshness, and elegance.”