End of 2025 commentary
Another wine tour season is in the books. A big thanks to our wonderful clients for all of the good times and conversation, the laughs, and most of all for giving me the opportunity to show you the best of Prince Edward County, and along the way hopefully you learned something new.
It truly feels like December now with the cold weather and some snow on the ground. The vines are all hibernating below hilled up soil, or under geotextile blankets. A few vineyard views from this past week are below.
At the moment I’m reading a collection of wine essays written by Jamie Goode (British author and wine writer/judge with a doctorate in plant biology). I loved the following quote: “It really is an exciting time to be a wine drinker, especially a curious, open-minded one.” This really sums up how I feel about the wine world right now, and about Prince Edward County. Even with the small levels of production here and only 30 or so wineries, we have so much to offer to anyone curious to try new things.
What did I observe as the County trends this year? First of all, a changing landscape in red wines. From Day One the County has been all about Pinot Noir, and when it is good here, it is really good. But it’s finicky, and a winery in PEC that depends on it alone will be financially decimated in some vintages.
Gamay is starting to show up at more wineries (Domaine Darius, Three Dog Winery, RedTail Vineyards and Grange of Prince Edward all have Gamay vines planted). Expect big things from Three Dog Winery when their recently planted Gamay vines mature.
This year I honestly have to say much of the County Cabernet Franc is pretty damn good. Stanners Vineyard has been producing really good Cab Franc for about a decade from County and Niagara fruit. Lighthall Vineyards has been producing good County Cab Franc for a few years now. But this year Three Dog Winery, Broken Stone Winery and Grange of Prince Edward produced one, or more outstanding County Cab Francs. Gravel Hill Vineyards has made some great Cab Franc in a couple of vintages. Trail Estate is making great Cab Franc from Niagara fruit. The barrel tasting I’ve done at several wineries recently says the best is yet to come.
My other observation this year was a lot more skin contact white wine is being produced, particularly Pinot Gris. Stanners Vineyard has long had a really interesting and tasty skin contact Pinot Gris (a fave pairing for spicy Asian in my household). Trail Estate and Traynor Vineyards specialize in their skin contact wines. Last House Vineyard now has a couple of skin contact Chardonnay vintages. But this year skin contact wines showed up at Three Dog Winery, Broken Stone Winery, Exultet Estates and Rosehall Run. I suspect more will follow.
The winery and cidery landscape continues to change in the County. Lacey Estates, Del-Gatto Estates, Hillier Creek Estates, Long Dog Winery are all for sale due to owner deaths or retirement. The vineyards at the former By Chadsey’s have been ploughed under after Broken Stone discontinued the vineyard management this year. County Cider (first cidery in PEC) is now for sale as the owner looks to retire and enjoy her family and travelling. Loch Mor Cider and Crimson Cider are also both for sale (reasons unknown). Volta Estate has produced their first vintage, are harvesting grapes from their young vineyards, and will open a tasting room around 2028. New winemaker teams took over this year at Lighthall Vineyards and RedTail Vineyards.
So what will the 2026 season bring? Never in its short wine history has Prince Edward County strung together three very good, or exceptional vintages in a row. 2023 and 2024 were both very good. 2025 is likely to be exceptional. In the 2026 season, almost all of the wines available for tasting and purchase in the County will be from those three vintages. A great time to visit.
Our wine tours start again in March. The 2026 booking calendar is open. Wine Events will be available in the off season. So if you’re planning a get together of friends/colleagues with wine involved, you might want to check it out.
All the best to everyone for the upcoming holiday season, and a prosperous and happy new year! And don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like some guidance ordering County wines for any of your holiday celebrations.
