In 2025, nature picked up the pace. The vineyard cycle advanced quickly, demanding extra attention and quick decisions. It was a year in which time did not wait — and those who wanted to keep up had to act with precision.
The vineyard cycle advanced quickly, requiring extra attention and quick decisions. It was a year in which time did not wait—and those who wanted to keep up had to act with precision.
The data confirm nature’s haste:
Accumulated degree days: 345.9 (+24%)
Average temperature (Nov–Jun): 13.3 °C (+6% vs. ten-year average)
Accumulated precipitation: 761 mm (−38%)
With less water and more heat, the vines did not wait. And at Soalheiro, the response was clear: don’t control the weather, but interpret it — with rigor, sensitivity, and respect.
The harvest began on August 23 with the Alvarinhos from the valley, with their restrained aroma, lively acidity, and surprising balance. A few days later, the grapes for the sparkling wine bases arrived, harvested with controlled pH and exemplary freshness.
This was followed by the Atlantic Loureiro, between the end of August and the beginning of September, at the right point of freshness and varietal delicacy.
On September 5, the grapes from the high-altitude and old vineyards arrived, with more intense and deeper musts, and, from September 16, the native reds — Alvarelhão and Vinhão — showed vivid color, fine tannins, and remarkable balance.
Between the valley and the mountain, fifteen days passed—the essential time needed to harvest each plot at just the right moment. Each day brought a decision. And with each plot came a destination.
The wines of 2025 are distinguished by their clarity and varietal purity.
Without tropical exuberance or easy sweetness, they express precise white fruit (green apple, loquat, pear), tense citrus (lime, lemon peel), and subtle floral notes (orange blossom, linden). Natural acidity remained firm, even in the valley areas, revealing wines with a vibrant, tense, and deeply distinctive profile.
2025 will go down in history as the year when time flew by—and precision made all the difference.
The Alvarinhos from the valley show medium body, clean fruit, and an acidity that provides structure.
High-altitude Alvarinhos have mineral tension, a citrus profile, lower alcohol content, and greater persistence.
The Loureiros reinforce the vegetal side of the grape variety — lemongrass, bay leaf, salty notes.
The Alvarinho sparkling wine bases are very crisp, with low alcohol content and vibrant energy — a very promising year for long sur lies aging.
In the red wines, phenolic ripeness was achieved with precision. Alvarelhão shows its most elegant side: clear red fruit, delicate structure, and silky tannins, preserving tension. Vinhão expresses intensity and authenticity—deep color, notes of blackberry and blueberry, polished tannins, and a vibrant finish, without excessive extraction.
Each harvest decision was made with its destination in mind:
stainless steel, barrel, egg, short or long aging, flower or direct pressing — the wine was already taking shape even before the grapes entered the winery.
A challenging but controlled year
From a phytosanitary point of view, mildew was the main challenge—active since April, with several cycles of infection during the month of May. It required vigilance and quick decisions, which allowed us to keep the health of all plots under control.
The drop in rainfall had a visible impact on some yields, especially in young or less vigorous vineyards. Even so, the entry into production of new plots and the balance of the old vineyards allowed us to maintain a stable, consistent harvest that was, above all, consistent with the Soalheiro style.
Always expect the best, even in a year that didn’t expect it
There is a certain paradox in 2025. It was a fast, unstable, dry year. And yet, the wines it leaves us with are among the most precise and pure of recent times.
No excesses, no over-extraction, no noise. Just the essentials: fruit, acidity, clarity.
In the cellar, fermentation proceeds smoothly, and each tank tells a different story—from the hillside to the valley, from direct pressing to free-run juice, from the egg to the barrel.
There is energy. There is silence. There is space for the wines to reveal themselves.
As always, we hope it will be the best harvest ever—not because it was easy, but precisely because it wasn’t.
Because in every decision, every day of the harvest, there was listening, intention, and care.
And it is this care that gives rise to wines with soul — and to the passion shown every day by the entire Soalheiro team.