Low yields but “invigorating acidity” and ageability for the 2025 VDP vintage
Germany’s designated VDP wineries have reported a high-quality harvest that rewarded “meticulous selection and rapid picking” with “impeccably healthy fruit” with “an invigorating acidity”, even if yields were low.
The official harvest report from the VDP noted that the 2025 growing season started well with vigorous growth (and no late spring frost) followed by a warm summer with sunny spells. Locally wet weeks in July however demanded careful canopy work and very close monitoring of grape health, only to be followed by long dry periods that helped bring on an early harvest – as early as August for some estates.
As a result of the short weather windows, “the harvest pace was high and decisions had to be spot on: parcel by parcel, variety by variety, with an eye to aromatics, acid balance and structure.”
“Precision, perfect timing and many hands in the vineyard” was key and those who did so, “succeeded in bringing grapes into the cellar at very good physiological ripeness”, yet retained “an invigorating acidity”, the VDP said.
Arner Bercher of VDP. Weingut Bercher in the the Kaiserstuhl noted that while yields fell short of expectations, it was “thanks to the tireless commitment of our winemakers” that the wines are already showing “complexity and an invigorating fruit-acid interplay [which] promise[s] great drinking pleasure after time in barrel.”
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Drilling down into the regions, picking for sparkling wines in Franken began on August 25, with the main harvest following swiftly in the first two weeks of September required great precision. Average yields were around 70 hl/ha, with Silvaner showing itself to be “clearly structured, spicy and mineral”, the Riesling “fresh and finely chiseled” and clear structure and strong aging potential for the Spätburgunder.
Mittel Rhein saw prolonged localised rain in September which increased pressure of botrytis pressure and necessitated “a very selective hand harvest” which resulted in small quantities of around 50nl/ha in some areas, although grapes “showed strong must weights and pronounced aromatics”.
Meanwhile fog from the rivers in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer helped protected the region from frost, the VDP said.
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