Harvest update 2025

Château Cazal Viel & Château Auzines

Harvest is progressing smoothly this year so far. At Château Cazal Viel, we began picking Sauvignon Blanc and Albariño in the third week of August. Since then, we've moved on to Chardonnay and initiated the first picks for our rosé from early-ripening plots of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. The old-vine Syrah and Grenache, destined for our top red cuvées, will take a bit longer to reach optimal ripeness. To capture the full potential of each parcel, we’re conducting daily vineyard rounds, carefully monitoring sugar levels and phenolic maturity.

Meanwhile, at Château Auzines, the harvest has just started. Although typically delayed by a couple of weeks compared to Cazal Viel, this year things are running a bit earlier with some faster-than-usual ripening following the heat surge in early August.

Fortunately, the weather has held stable. It’s a welcome respite after the intense summer wildfires—particularly the alarming blaze in early August that swept across parts of the Corbières near Béziers. Our hope now is for steady, warm, dry days to help us bring in fully ripe, healthy fruit.

Broader Context: The 2025 French Harvest

On a national scale, France is entering a stronger harvest season. Wine production in 2025 is forecast to rebound—rising by 10% to 17%, with total output expected between 40 and 42.5 million hectolitres (Reuters, Decanter). This represents a significant recovery following 2024’s challenging, weather-hit vintage. Many other French regions initiated harvests earlier than usual this year due to warmer temperatures throughout the growing season (Vinetur, euronews)—a pattern that aligns with the accelerated picking timeline at Château Cazal Viel and Château Auzines and our observation of climate-related changes in the vineyard over the last 2 decades.

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