For the Easter weekend we thought there’s nothing our friends and customers would like more than an in-depth report on Bordeaux 2025. To be fair, and the weather last year apart, the production statistics are quite something: half the amount of wine produced than in 2016, the lowest crop since 1991 (again) and 20,000 hectares of vines (50,000 acres) along with 1,000 growers gone in three years. Crikey.

Crémant is on the up though…

If you have any questions or comments, please email Georgie, Angela and Gavin by clicking this link – or simply reply to this email and Gavin will get back to you.

All the best

Gavin & Angela Quinney

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Bordeaux 2025 weather and crop report

2025 will prove to be an excellent vintage for Bordeaux but it’s another dastardly small one, unfortunately, with low yields. Here’s my annual weather and crop report in readiness for the tastings in April, when the world of fine wine descends on the region to sample the new wines.

The official production figures were released internally on the Bordeaux trade’s website at the end of March. So, along with the data from six different weather stations around the region and other sources, I’ve put together a formidable series of graphs, maps and tables for what might be referred to as ‘a deep dive’ into the growing season and the resulting production.

The subjects I cover in order:

• 2025 and the growing season graphs
• Comparing 2025 with other years
• Bordeaux rainfall 2009-2025
• Bordeaux temperatures 2009-2025
• A photo recap of the season
• Bordeaux wine production graphs
• The smallest crop since 1991
• A closer look at falling yields
• The dramatic fall in volume and vineyards
• Where 20,000 hectares (20%) have gone

2025 is the smallest crop since 1991 – as was, in fact, 2024. But while 2024 was a relatively wet year, 2025 was dry and hot throughout much of the growing season. It is the weather, after all, which largely determines the quality and size of the crop.

This is a graph I’ve put together each year since the 2016 vintage, taking the averages from six weather stations around Bordeaux to get a more representative picture of the vintage. Note that there can be regional variations, not least because it is a vast wine region. Following the dry, hot summer, we had an unusually early harvest, with the dry whites being picked in August and the reds being brought in from the start of September.

There are parallels with the really hot year of 2022 and, looking further back, to 2003. This is an interesting graphic using the (Bordeaux Mérignac) rainfall and temperatures of each vintage from February to August, showing 2003, 2022 and 2025 in the hot and dry corner. It's particularly relevant to precocious years like 2025, when the red grapes are harvested early, from the start of September. Many great vintages like 2016 saw later harvests, so when the fine September conditions are taken into account, that year would rightly move further to the left.

2025, 2022 and 2003 saw more days which went over 35˚C than any others this century. I remember those summers well, not forgetting that summer days which reach 30˚C are more than satisfactory.

This graph shows a weekly timeline of the rain and the heat, while comparing the rainfall and average temperatures with the 15-year averages from the same weather stations. The heavy rain over Easter in late April was to prove useful given the lack of water and the heat that was to follow. It was warmer from May through August than the average, and the rain in August only came in the last days of the month. For many, just before the red harvest, the rain helped, keeping potential alcohol down and maintaining acidity. September saw rain intermittently during the harvest, and it was cooler than the average.

The same graph from the 2022 growing season shows the summer heat and lack of water was similar to 2025, though the timing of the rain was different, especially when compared with the significant rain in late August and September 2025.

I've kept the data from the six weather stations for many years now, including the daily rainfall numbers. These are the averages of the six per month, with the 15-year average 2010-2024 of those same stations, and the 30-year Bordeaux Mérignac data. Every year can, of course, be quite different - such as 2024 v 2025. July and August are fairly consistent, though summers like 2022 can be too dry. As we saw above, the rain in August 2025 came at the end of the month, and that is often the way. A month's high rainfall figure can be down to one or two days of stormy weather.

Above are the rainfall figures going back to the excellent vintages of 2009 and 2010, with the 30-year averages shown on the right. As well as those two years, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 and now 2025 would be rated as the best vintages for red wines.

Some would add in 2015 as well, especially for the better wines of Margaux and St-Emilion. That would also make it easier if you like the handy sequence of very good Bordeaux vintages ending in 0 or 5 (since 1990).

Here are the monthly average temperatures for each year. They don't really tell the full story but can convey an impression - 2025 was warmer than average from April through to August, cooler in September.

Again, the same statistics going back to the top vintages of 2009 and 2010. You also get a feel for how a weaker vintage like 2013 never got off the ground with a chilly May and June.

A quick reminder of where the Bordeaux vineyards are located. We live at Château Bauduc just outside Créon, south east of the city of Bordeaux, in the Entre Deux Mers.

Brief photo recap of the season

An interlude from all the tables and graphs.

It poured with rain over Easter. 20 April 2025, Château Bauduc.

But no damage was done. 22 April 2025, Château Bauduc.

During and just after the flowering. 3 June and 10 June, Château Bauduc.

Thankfully, the light hail on 13 June turned into a helpful, heavy shower. Château Bauduc.

Green and lush still, 14 June. Château Bauduc.

Véraison – changing of the colour, 26 July. Healthy looking vines. Château Bauduc.

The impact of the heat and drought was clearly evident on the ground, left, on 20 August 2025. Then, after the rain, and the harvest of this parcel of merlot. 16 September, Château Bauduc.

Getting a bit warm. Sémillon, 9 August, Château Bauduc.

The Quinney family picking sémillon for our Crémant de Bordeaux. 19 August, Château Bauduc.

Sauvignon Blanc coping despite the drought and the heat. 20 August, Château Bauduc.

Harvest of that parcel by machine before dawn, 25 August 2025. In a normal year, if there is such a thing, we’d harvest this block in mid-September. Château Bauduc.

Sauvignon Blanc before and after the harvest machine. 25 August, Château Bauduc.

Elsewhere, many vines suffered from the lack of rain and the summer heat. These were in the Côtes de Bordeaux in Haux, near us, 24 August.

Vines, notably younger ones, struggled in more prestigious appellations too. Pomerol, 26 August.

While other vines showed no signs of stress. Pomerol, 26 August.

The 2025 red harvest took place almost entirely in September, and from the start of the month. Merlot at Château l’Eglise Clinet, Pomerol, 4 September, left, and at Château Tour Baladoz, Saint-Émilion, 17 September.

Healthy looking rows in Saint-Emilion, 17 September.

The Cabernet Sauvignon harvest at Château Montrose, Saint-Estèphe, 18 September.

Cabernet Sauvignon at Château Montrose, Saint-Estèphe, 18 September.

Merlot harvest, Château Bauduc. 16 September.

Machine harvest, hand sorting to remove any unwanted bits, 16 September.

Cabernet Sauvignon – the later ripener – at Château Bauduc, 26 September.

Bordeaux wine production in 2025

In 2025, Bordeaux produced 82% red wine, 4% rosé, 9% dry white, 4% crémant blanc, and 1% sweet white. The overall vineyard split is 86.7% red and 13.3% white.

After four years in a row of small Bordeaux crops, 2025 ended up with even less, and the smallest harvest since 1991.

The 2025 figure of 290.6 million litres, with a low yield of 33.6hl/ha (hectolitres per hectare), followed 2024 with 332 million litres and 35hl/ha, 2023 with 384 million litres and 37hl/ha, 2022 at 411 million litres (38hl/ha) and 2021 with 377 million litres (35hl/ha). The table with these numbers is shown below.

The five-year average from 2021 to 2025 of 359 million litres is 25% lower than the annual average of 487 million litres of the previous decade (2011-2020) and 38% lower than the 581 million litre average of the decade from 2001 to 2010.

So it’s fair to say, given the current five-year average, that Bordeaux makes the equivalent of around 480 million bottles per year. That’s still a lot of wine, but considerably fewer bottles than the 650 million average of 2011-2020, and the 775 million bottles per year of 2001-2010.

A closer look at yields

These are the yields per hectare from the whole of Bordeaux, broken down into the main groups. 2025 produced low yields across the board for reds, and the whites and rosé were lower than usual.

I’ve taken the yields in 2025 compared to the average of the last 20 years (2005-2024). As you can see, the production per hectare for red wines is down 19-27%% in 2025 against that 20-year average.

2013 (poor weather) and 2017 (late April frost) saw low yields, and 2025 is the fifth consecutive year – for the generic wines – of small crops. 2021 was lower due to spring frosts in some areas and widespread mildew, 2022 due to drought and heat stress, 2023 and 2024 courtesy of the threat of mildew in the main, and now 2025 primarily down to drought and heat.

For many vineyards, there were fewer bunches in 2025 as a knock-on effect from the difficult flowering conditions for the 2024 vintage. As a result, there were fewer bunches. (I noticed this on our Sauvignon Blanc before a grape had even formed.) Then, with the drought and heat, the grapes remained small and the yields never recovered from that. Fewer bunches, smaller grapes, great concentration but less juice.

The yields in the most prestigious appellations are of particular interest for the ‘en primeur’ or ‘futures’ campaign that will follow the spring tastings in Bordeaux for the trade.

Compared to the 20-year averages from 2005-2024 shown on the right, the yields per hectare for 2025 are considerably down. 37% lower for Saint-Julien, 31% for Pomerol – both with just 26% hl/ha, then 29% less in Margaux and 27% in Pauillac (29hl/ha and 30hl/ha). Saint-Émilion and Saint-Estèphe got off comparatively lightly at 10% and 17% down on the averages, respectively.

For those of a nerdy disposition, or for anyone with a special interest in certain appellations, a rather detailed map showing the size of each sub-region and the yields per hectare in recent years. As you can see from the 'KEY', the yields are broken down into more manageable chunks. The Entre Deux Mers is usually shown on maps in green, but it's where a great deal of basic red Bordeaux comes from, so it's here in red with dots of green to represent the dry white wines.

The dramatic fall in production and the vineyard area

There's less wine produced, less vineyard land and lower yields in Bordeaux. That much is obvious; this graph shows the general picture in five-year spreads. I asked Claude the other day 'How much wine does Bordeaux produce?' (That's the AI app, not my neighbour.) 'Around 850 million bottles of wine per year' came back the immediate reply. That might have been true 25 years ago, but not these days.

This graph illustrates just how big a change there has been in the last decade, especially just the last few years. It's extraordinary to think that for the excellent 2016 harvest, Bordeaux produced twice as much wine as it did in 2025.

Meanwhile, the reduction in the vineyard area (the green line) has accelerated at quite a pace. 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) or 20% of the Bordeaux vineyard have either been ripped up (with or without a grant) or left abandoned in the last three years.

To put it another way, 20,000 hectares is around four times the total vineyard area in England and Wales - including those not yet in production (around 4,250ha were harvested in England in 2025).

More worrying for those of us still at it are the diminishing yields per hectare, mainly due to climatic conditions. For the vast majority of growers, yields of thirty something hectolitres per hectare are just not tenable. Once in a while maybe, but not consistently.

The light blue line shows how many growers have stopped. From 6,600 in 2016 to 4,400 today - a third - and 1,000 of those in the last three years, since the 2022 harvest.

My somewhat detailed table above shows again how the average yields have dropped considerably in recent years. The total area of Bordeaux vineyards is falling too – that’s all the sub-regions and generic Bordeaux wines that are AOP or Appellation d’Origine Protégée. There’s also a smallish amount (about 5% each year of the total Gironde vineyard) of Vin de France (VSIG) and IGP ‘Atlantique’ (previously Vin de Pays) combined, neither of which say Bordeaux on the label.

The number of hectares per grower used to go up, as a reasonably consistent surface area of vineyards was operated by fewer growers over time – consolidation, in effect. But now that the vineyard area is diminishing, and growers are quitting in droves, the average of 20 hectares per grower (those declaring a harvest) has remained fairly constant.

More on the volume of wine

An illustrative breakdown of where all the wine comes from, based on the volume made. The Entre Deux Mers (both West and East on the map) is better known for its white wine as an ‘appellation’, but here's an estimate of the enormous amount of mainly red produced here using the generic red Bordeaux AOP on the label. 10,000 hectares of Bordeaux rouge have disappeared in the last three years, so that's increased the percentage of wine from some other areas.

There is simply too much red wine being produced in Bordeaux.

I haven't seen a precise, up-to-date breakdown of the split of grape varieties for a while, so this is a best guess. But my estimates will be pretty close.

About 40% of the wine produced is generic red Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur rouge, plus another 10% or so of Blaye, Bourg and other Côtes. Then there’s a bit more than 10% for Saint-Emilion and its satellites (Montagne, Lussac and so on) plus 15% from the Médoc appellations, on the left bank, in all. Graves and Pessac Léognan red, also on the left bank, accounts for less than 5% of the total, and they produce a much smaller amount of dry white (1% – a similar amount to all the sweet white wine produced).

White wine accounts for just 10% of production overall. One area of growth - on top - is white Crémant de Bordeaux. In 2021, 550 hectares were declared as white crémant, which produced 4.5 million bottles. In 2025, nearly 1,700 hectares of white crémant were picked, making the equivalent of over 15 million bottles.

For comparison, above is the same chart for 2019. At the time, we thought it was a very good year, but with pretty average yields of 44hl/ha. And yet 2019 produced 200 million more litres than 2025.

I’m afraid we’ve still got some way to go. A lot less red wine is required.

Well done for making it this far. With this final graphic, I've mapped out the rough location of the 20,000 hectares that have disappeared in the last three years. Half have gone from 'Bordeaux rouge' - most of it from the Entre Deux Mers, around us, and not far from us.

The other areas where the vineyards have either been ripped out (or not declared for the 2025 harvest) can be seen by following the red dots: as well as generic Bordeaux Supérieur, there are the various Côtes de Bordeaux and up and over to the Médoc appellation, with many more in between.

To be fair, the authorities have been pushing for this, knowing that production has to fall in line with the diminishing market at home and abroad. Grants for pulling out vines have been in place at various stages in the last few years, while many growers have simply pulled up or abandoned vines regardless as they’ve been unable to sell the wine.

Onwards and upwards.