Rain Adds to Nailbiter of a Harvest

October 14, 2025 – No doubt the early season rains, coming on the heels of a cool summer, have caused vineyard managers and winemakers to develop lots of gray hairs this harvest. It’s been a nailbiter of a year for many local vineyards.

Burrell School began picking a fabulous looking crop of Chardonnay in early October in advance of a rain threat. Winemaker Dave Moulton had expressed concern over the low brix levels on the Pinot Noir with the first real storm of the season incoming, but decided to pick. However, the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc and Merlot are still on the vine. “We’re hoping for some sunshine over the next couple of weeks!” said Moulton.  

Vineyard manager Ken Swegles says they got 1.8” inches at Ascona on Skyline out of yesterday’s storm. “It’s basically been raining all harvest!” he said, pointing to graphs showing both the accumulated rainfall since late September, accompanied by rising mildew pressure with each rain event. Thankfully, though, everything picked thus far from that mountain top vineyard on Skyline has been good chemistry-wise. “Perfect fruit! Best Chardonnay ever. Could be a great vintage.” He is still waiting on Syrah.

Marty Mathis at Kathryn Kennedy told us he had brought in everything but some Cab. “We have the Small Lot Cabernet grapes yet to pick, but I’m not worried about this rain. That’s a special thing about Cabernet Sauvignon variety…It has loose clusters and rarely ever gets rot…. This rain only will serve for better hangtime, softer tannins and deeper flavors.” So, for those still sweating out Cab, the sunny weather forecast could portend a bit more ripening. 

Attending the Testarossa Annual Blessing of the Grapes, on October 8, which occurred during the 137^thconsecutive harvest at the Novitiate in Los Gatos, brought a sweet taste of the Santa Lucia Highlands. Beautiful bins of vintage 2025 Pinot Noir from Rosella’s Vineyard awaited the ritual dousing of holy water by the presiding priest. But that didn’t stop eager hands from plucking a few plump and delicious grapes and savoring them, wondering how the flavors would translate into the future fermented version of the same.

Winemaker Bill Brosseau tells us that all the Testarossa fruit was in and processed before the rains yesterday. He was still waiting for Bordeaux varieties from other vineyards like Black Ridge near the Lexington Reservoir.

In the Santa Lucia Highlands, Nick Franscioni reports that all has been picked from their vineyards except the Syrah. 

Closer to the Santa Cruz coast, where the cool summer and early rains has increased ripeness anxiety, Cole Thomas told me that the disease pressure was significant, and the yellow jackets were a real nuisance. “I’ve been sorting like crazy this year. It’s probably costing me 50 to 60 cases of wine.” Ouch. 

Mark Pisoni checked in right before the rains and said that his brother Jeff was pressing off the first lots of Pinot Noir, and expressed optimism about the great color and phenolics of the early wines. “We saw cooler than normal summer and fall temps and seeds, skins, stems, etc. ripened before brix accumulating, which I love to see,” Mark Pisoni reports. “We had a small rain event in the middle of harvest, but fruit condition remained beautiful. After any rain event we are very cautious about potential botrytis, but none really developed. To combat any potential issues, we had a day team remove additional leaves to improve airflow and inspect clusters. Then we had our night team harvest at night. It was truly a 24-hour operation, but that makes things exciting at harvest.”  

Speaking of excitement on a whole other level, Rosscienda owner Doug Ross in Corralitos is recovering from a serious crash in South Africa. He suffered serious head, neck and back injuries which will require further surgeries, while his wife, Jenny suffered a broken nose and hand, when a truck backed out into the Uber car the couple were riding in on a visit to Capetown. They learned more than they ever wanted to about the medical system there. 

Ross said that the estate Pinot Noir was very slow to ripen and the yellow jackets were awful, and had seriously damaged the crop. “We’ll just pick at lower brix and deal with it,” he said, echoing a common refrain throughout the mountains this year. 

He’s switching things up with new winemakers this harvest, working with Ellie Loustalot and Matt DeSilva, who also make wine for Nicholson. Ross said that Marguerite Nicholson had called and asked if they might be able to make wine at the new Rosscienda facility and share winemaking talent. Ellie and Matt crushed some of the Nicholson fruit there, starting with Amador Zinfandel, and then Rosscienda Pinot Noir, followed by the Nicholson fruit. Ross says he’s also getting Cab Franc from Cooper Garrod again this year, having made it in 2024. It, like all the other 2024 Rosscienda wines, were made by winemaker Dave Moore (Savannah-Chanelle, Byington). 

In other news, The Duckhorn Group, which owns Calera Wine Company in Hollister, has granted all 598 of their employees access to equity in the company through a new broad-based employee ownership program. According to a news release, eligible employees may receive an amount up to—or potentially exceeding—12 months of their annual base salary (before taxes), contingent upon meeting or surpassing operational and valuation goals.

“We believe that this program will empower each of our employees to feel even more connected to our collective success and help drive our business forward,” said The Duckhorn Portfolio CPO Nicole Cummings. “This plan is one of the pillars that will support our intention to consistently be rated as a ‘great place to work’, where employees take pride in their contributions, and are rewarded for their efforts.” 

The Duckhorn Portfolio sees this investment in its people and operations as particularly timely, as many Americans are seeking better pay, benefits and corporate cultures. 

Let’s see how this bold move plays out.