2025 Spring Vintage Update - Gilles Nicault from Long Shadows Vintners

As we transition from spring to summer, Director of Winemaking and Viticulture, Gilles Nicault, has been busy visiting our vineyards throughout Washington. It’s an important time of year to monitor bloom and position the vines for optimal growth.

We recently caught up with Gilles about his initial impressions of the growing season. Spoiler alert: He says that so far, it’s been a perfect growing season.

After a mild winter the vines had a lot of stored energy. A warm spring resulted in budbreak about one week earlier than we typically see. The good conditions persisted and all of our vineyards experienced a hearty bloom and a good fruit set.

The hot weather we had last week was beneficial for the vines as it caused some stress and will help with creating smaller, tighter clusters and concentrated berries.

Gilles noted that he and the vineyard crew are currently tending to canopy management, including shoot positioning and leaf thinning.

Proper shoot positioning creates a uniform distribution of clusters to avoid congestion. The key is to monitor and control the growth of the shoots to ensure this spacing.

Gilles has also been carefully thinning leaves in an additional effort to attain the ideal canopy. This is a delicate art of keeping enough leaf surface area for photosynthesis and vine health while also exposing the clusters to good air flow and sunshine to help with ripening and to mitigate disease.

Good vineyard management at this stage of the growing season has a big impact on the quality of the final clusters. Gilles intentionally creates the environment for low yields and concentrated berries.

If history is any indication, we look forward to a warm vintage with rich, focused wines balanced with robust acidity. Gilles expects the 2025 vintage to be another fantastic year for Long Shadows wines.