Harvest 2025 at SAMsARA: Exceptional Fruit, Early Momentum

After an unusually cool spring and summer on the Central Coast, Mother Nature flipped the switch. A late-August warm spell nudged ripening along beautifully, and the 2025 harvest is officially rolling at SAMsARA.

We brought in our first grapes for sparkling wine in late August, with more sparkling fruit arriving September 5, 2025, and our first Pinot Noir pick slated for Saturday, September 6, 2025. The fruit looks fantastic—clean clusters, lively acidity, and flavors right where we want them.

Headline takeaway: 2025 is shaping up to be an awesome vintage. Fruit quality is exceptional, and we’re very optimistic about the wines to come.

A Quick Note on the Fires

We’ve been asked about smoke impact. The short answer: we’re in the clear. The smoke moved east; our vineyards are west of the fire, and we saw no smoke effect in our sites.

Harvest by the Numbers (So Far)

• Chardonnay: ~70% of our picks are scheduled over the next 7 days.
• Pinot Noir: ~50% of the total Pinot for the year is slated for the coming week.
• First Pinot pick: RLV on September 6, 2025 (for the data nerds, see the historical timing below).

RLV Pinot Pick Timing: A Little History

• 2025: 9/6
• 2024: 9/5
• 2023: 9/28
• 2022: 9/9
• 2021: 9/27
• 2020: 9/5

It’s always fun to see how vineyard personality and vintage weather line up year to year.

2025 Growing Season Snapshot

• Low rainfall: ~7 inches in calendar year 2025 so far, and ~10 inches since the rainy season began (October 2024).
• Cool vintage: Lowest degree days since 2011—cooler than both 2023 and 2021 up until the recent warm spell.
• Right-time heat: A hot stretch in late August and early September pushed ripening along—especially for Rhône varieties—without causing heat damage. Vines look healthy.
• Balanced yields: Crop levels are near average to just below—that “sweet spot” where vine balance tends to translate into outstanding fruit quality.

What’s New: Vineyards & Sparkling Program

Single-Vineyard Chardonnay from La Rinconada

We’re thrilled to bring La Rinconada into the fold with a single-vineyard Chardonnay. After tasting through blocks with the Sanford team, we selected Clone 76 from the westernmost/coldest section—perfect for SAMsARA’s bright, textural Chardonnay style.

Expanded Sparkling Lineup

Our 2022 Blanc de Blanc has been so well received that we’re expanding the sparkling program in 2025:

• Blanc de Blanc (Spear Vineyard)
• Blanc de Noir (Spear Vineyard)
• Cuvée d’Inspiration sparkling bottling (a Pinot + Chardonnay blend)

We’re excited to offer multiple sparkling options in the tasting room and to make Cuvée d’Inspiration more accessible for guests and club members.

Meet the 2025 Harvest Crew

• Neal is captaining cellar operations for his 7th SAMsARA harvest—his steady leadership keeps everything humming.
• Miranda & Colin are back! They’re the legendary dynamic duo of clean gear and good vibes—fast, meticulous, and all-in on quality.

We’re grateful for this team. Their focus and care show up in your glass.

Visit During Harvest

Harvest is the most electric time to visit—fermentation aromas in the air, grapes coming in, and the cellar at full throttle. When timing allows, we love giving guests a peek behind the scenes—tasting berries, checking fermentations, maybe even a quick punch down or some (sanitized!) foot-stomping.

If you’d like to time a visit while the action is on, reach out to the tasting room and we’ll let you know what the next week looks like.

Here’s to 2025—a cool, balanced growing season, a timely warm finish, and fruit that’s already showing precision and energy. We can’t wait to share these wines with you.