Vineyards Magazine

The grape harvest is now over at Ornellaia.Technical Director Marco Balsimelli talks us through the 2025 vintage, a year of great promise.

An overview of the 2025 vintage

“2025 was a waiting game. The grapes were slower to ripen than we had imagined, a positive thing, because it always results in fully ripened skins with complex aromas and refined tannins, as well as good balance between the sugar content and the acidity.”

2025 began with a cool, rainy spring, allowing water to be stored to face the months ahead. In the second week of May, the weather changed, bringing a sharp rise in temperatures and stable conditions. June stood out for being exceptionally hot and dry, setting a high-quality profile for the grapes. More moderate temperatures in July enabled the vines to maintain good vegetative balance. The high temperatures in early August favoured density and structure, while the rain at the end of August and early September provided relief. The Merlot, which was picked in early September, benefitted from amazing harvest conditions, resulting in freshness and concentration in the grapes. The final week of the harvest was exceptional: clear skies and swings in temperature from day to night prompted the full phenolic and aromatic ripeness of the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The 2025 vintage in detail

A cool, wet start to the spring

March brought normal temperatures and wet conditions. In the middle of the month, low temperatures, nearing freezing point in the coldest areas, slowed the budbreak of the earliest Merlot vines, which occurred at the end of March. The continued cool temperatures caused a slowdown in the vegetative growth, meaning that the daily developmental rhythm was reduced as seen in a 10-day delay compared to 2024. Normal vegetative development resumed in mid-April due to a rise in temperatures.

The turning point after May 8

“June was one of the hottest and driest months ever recorded in Bolgheri, a cause for concern if the summer had continued that way. Fortunately, July proved to be cooler and that freshness allowed the vines to regain balance.”

After May 8, there was a marked improvement in the weather conditions, with dry, sunny days that allowed the vines to resume growth. Flowering occurred at the end of May. During the first half of August, the high temperatures returned, with several days reaching significant peaks.

The harvest

“The key to this vintage was tenacity and the ability to observe, wait and harvest at the right moment. We spent a lot of time in the vineyard, closely monitoring the evolution of each parcel to capture the ideal point of ripeness

Late September and the beginning of October brought perfect conditions: clear days, cool daytime temperatures and cold nights.

Sauvignon Blanc started to be harvested on August 18th, followed by Viognier on the 22nd, Sémillon on the 27th and Vermentino between September 3 and 11. The parcels of Merlot, showing surprising freshness and even ripening, were harvested starting August 28th.

However, the weather proved unpredictable in September. The month began with localised showers, followed by more significant rainfall around the 10th. During the rest of the harvest period the weather remained stable and sunny, encouraging even ripening.

Ripening evolved slowly in the other varieties as well, the hallmark of a vintage with great quality potential. Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were harvested from September 16th onwards, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon starting on the 17th, with the harvest concluding on October 3rd.

Quality of the wines

“After initial tastings, the great quality of these wines lies above all in their vibrant freshness. When we talk about acidity, we’re talking about longevity. I believe these wines will have a bright future. These will be wines with great ageing potential, yet also with density, real character and profound intensity… I’m certain that Ornellaia 2025 will express the personality, diversity and beauty of our terroir to the fullest.”

The Merlot shows a strong character this year: fresh, yet dense. Acidity levels are higher than usual, likely due to the cooler temperatures recorded in July, which preserved aromatic freshness and palate tension. It’s probably the variety that expresses the most tension and minerality in 2025. The Cabernet Franc reveals the potential of the vintage in an extraordinary way. The wines are balanced, fresh, aromatically intense and complex, with an elegant body and long finish. They strike a perfect balance between delicacy and intensity. The Petit Verdot is concentrated, with expressive aromatic profiles: complex, yet true to varietal character, showing notes of rose and pepper. The Cabernet Sauvignon displays a juicy, fleshy character that is typical of Ornellaia. It represents classicism with great depth, density and concentration, yet always balanced, fresh and with incredible length provided by dense, silky tannins.

The sun has just started to light up the vineyard and the harvesting teams are already busily gathering the first few bunches that will become the estate’s reds. One by one, the bunches are placed in 15-kilogram crates and, in under an hour, they will be escorted to the cellar, where they will be selected for a second time on the sorting table before passing through the optical sorter and embarking on their journey to become part of the Ornellaia legacy.

“The harvest is always a wonderful and crucial time,” remarks Marco Balsimelli, Production Director at Ornellaia, “but every time of the year is important in the vineyard. 2024 has been both positive and challenging. Between March and June, frequent rainfall replenished the water reserves, while every vineyard parcel required constant care, which naturally is what we gave them.”

The summer arrived suddenly at the end of June, giving Bolgheri two months of sunshine and dry weather, which provided optimal conditions for the vines. “The arrival of the hot weather enabled us to reverse a difficult situation, laying the foundations for a fantastic vintage. In mid July and early August especially, we had 20 days of very intense heat,” explains Balsimelli. “This context of slight water stress allowed the vegetative growth to stop and saw the beginning of the actual ripening process with a concentration of sugar, aromas and polyphenols.”

Completing the perfect summer, the microclimate at Ornellaia ensured cool breezy nights for the vineyards with temperatures between 19 and 22 degrees Celsius. Lastly, on August 15, the Italian midsummer holiday, between 10 and 20 millimetres of rain brought relief to the vines. “It was timely because the rain restarted the ripening, giving the grapes just the right profile.”

Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Frescobaldi, to which Ornellaia belongs, is delighted by the end result. “The grapes were perfectly healthy and ripe upon picking. The Sauvignon Blanc grapes, which were harvested on separate occasions between 12 and 30 August, are already fermenting in the cellar, and now it’s time to continue with the other white grapes as well as our red grapes. Meticulous attention to detail and a dedication to the vineyards – more than 700 hours of manual labour per hectare every years – rewards us with the admirable equilibrium of the vines that never fail to convey the profoundly unique terroir of Ornellaia in sync with the vintage.”

Given that first parcels of Merlot began to be picked in the last few days, the harvest is expected to continue until early October, culminating in the final bunches of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista project continues to support the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum.

This year’s Vendemmia d’Artista project is concluding with a donation in favour of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Ornellaia estate, with the support of the charity auction organised by Sotheby’s, has donated 325.000 dollars to the Mind’s Eye program, which increases accessibility to art for people who are blind or have low vision through multisensory exploration.  

A series of large formats of Ornellaia Vendemmia d’Artista 2021 La Generosità created by Marinella Senatore, have been sold during a dedicated charity auction organized by Sotheby’s. The Italian artist has used the language of collages and light to interpret the character of the 2021 vintage.

She says: “The sense of care and belonging that is implicit in generosity is the bedrock of what becomes cohabitation. Generosity and cooperation, coexistence and, lastly, participation: these have always been the core concepts of my research. For the labels”, she continues, “I used the collage technique that I love so much and that enables me to organize many details, images, energy flows and thoughts on a piece of paper. The labels were conceived as a set of collages, which describes the land, the generosity of its traits, and the relationship between the land, energy and human beings.”

The President Lamberto Frescobaldi remarks “I would like to thank both Sotheby’s, which has been a partner of this project for years, and all the collectors who took part in the auction. We are proud to support Mind’s Eye and to see this project grow year after year, involving more and more people from all over the world.”

Mind’s Eye program is now active in the Guggenheim museums in Venice, New York and Bilbao. Cyra Levenson, Deputy Director, Education and Public Engagement, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, explains: “With Ornellaia’s Global Partnership and support, the Mind’s Eye program is now an international initiative, providing a way to experience the Guggenheim’s one-of-a-kind architectural sites and inspiring collections in the digital space for anyone anywhere. “

Art and wine share a multi-sensorial experience. By donating the funds raised by Vendemmia d’Artista to the Mind’s Eye program, Ornellaia underlines the shared value and importance of having an active stakeholder in today’s cultural and social community.