B.C. Buyer's Guide: Vintage 2025

The extreme cold events of December 2022 and January 2024 decimated yields across the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, resulting in a reported 97% crop loss. The so called replacement wines, branded under the Crafted in BC label, were a necessary short-term solution to bridge the deficit.

The good news was that the worst-case scenario was avoided. Although there was widespread bud loss, many vineyards survived, with the notable exception of cold-sensitive varieties such as syrah. That meant growers could at least expect a crop in 2025. There was a sense that the vines would need time to bounce back, much like recovering from a traumatic injury. In early conversations, I heard many growers hopeful for 50-70% of normal production.

What happened instead was shockingly different. As summer progressed, it became clear that a much more generous crop was hanging in the vineyards. Many wineries were looking at yields they hadn't experienced in years. For many producers, 2025 will be their largest harvest on record, with some running out of tank space as fruit kept arriving on the crushpad.

For B.C. wine enthusiasts, this is great news. It means not just a return of BC fruit, but an abundance of BC wine that we haven't seen since 2022.

Growing season conditions were mercifully favourable after the roller coaster of the past four years. In fact, 2025 will go down as the warmest vintage on record in the Okanagan, just surpassing 2023 in Growing Degree Days (GDDs) in most sub-regions. But 2025 didn't have the punishing heat of two years prior. It was consistently warm throughout the growing season, with summer temperatures continuing until the end of September. In fact, it was the warmest September in the Okanagan in the past 20 years. However, temperatures rarely exceeded 35°C, critical for retaining acidity. And, thankfully, the vintage was also free of wildfires.

2025 has few comparables in recent memory. It combines the warmth and ripeness of 2023, but with the yields and freshness of 2022. It's a vintage that's also difficult to generalize across all producers, largely because of what happened in the vineyards.

Not all vineyards responded equally after the cold snap, and challenges varied by producer. After two vintages with little to no grapes, many growers were generous with their crop levels. But diligent growers carefully managed yields to ensure vines remained in balance. Even so, the heavy crop loads put pressure on late-ripening red varieties, stretching harvest into October in some cases.

At Gismondi on Wine, we took the opportunity ahead of BC Wine Month to taste the first releases from the 2025 vintage, and celebrate the return of BC fruit.

These wines are still youthful, and many have just been bottled recently. In some respects, we're looking into a crystal ball to anticipate where they'll go. But we're also cognisant that many wines are already in the market, with wine drinkers eager to try the first tranche of releases.

To compile our Buyer's Guide, we tasted over 130 wines covering all of BC's wine regions: from Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley, to the Kootenays, to the Fraser and Similkameen Valleys, though the majority were concentrated in the Okanagan Valley.

As you'd expect for spring releases, the focus was on aromatic white wines and rosés. They're perfect wines for spring that will carry you through the summer months as well. The best of these wines show what's so special about BC and why we're so excited for the return of BC fruit.

A commonality among the top wines is the deft balance between fruit ripeness and freshness. It's not a surprise that some of our favourites are from the tried-and-true varieties: pinot gris, BC's most widely planted grape; riesling; and rosés made from varieties like pinot noir.

Ben Bryant, owner and winemaker of 1 Mill Road, said, “The 2025 season on the Naramata Bench was defined by consistency, with a warm, even growing season and an earlier harvest. What stood out was the fruit's natural balance, achieving ripeness without excess while retaining acidity throughout. It's a vintage that leans toward purity and precision, with a very clear expression of place.”

Over on Vancouver Island, Unsworth Vineyards' winemaker Dan Wright said, “For the Cowichan Valley, the summer of 2025 had warm, dry weather, which led to earlier ripening, similar to 2023 and 2021. For context, in our cool climate, 2025's picking occurred from mid-September through early October, whereas in cooler years, most of the harvest occurs in October. The fruit looked great and was an average yield, so winemaking-wise, I felt lucky to have an easy-ish harvest with Unsworth's winery construction still wrapping up."

When I visited a number of Okanagan wineries in fall 2025, it felt like the industry had gone through a period where everything that could go wrong did. But in conversations with growers and producers, there was still an extraordinary optimism about the future. Even though they had every reason to feel defeated and cynical, they kept moving forward with an unwavering commitment to not just return, but to return better and stronger than ever.

The 2025 vintage reaffirms that spirit and shows why people remain so enthusiastic, even after all the challenges they've faced. We'd like to think of this guide not as the final word, but as the start of what will be expanded upon as more 2025 spring releases come to market. We'll do our best to keep up and add to this list over time.

In the meantime, selectivity is key with the 2025 vintage. But that's what we're here for.

2025 Vintage Recommendations

Hybrids and PIWIs

Monte Creek 2025 Living Land Gris - $24.99 – anticipated release in April 2026

There's been a lot of discussion about hybrids, or PIWIs, in the world of wine lately. Their cold hardiness makes them appealing in more challenging climates in Canada. But you also see them planted throughout traditional wine regions in Europe, as growers seek disease-resistant varieties to minimize vineyard inputs.

We've included the Monte Creek Living Land Gris to show why hybrids rightly deserve a place in this conversion. It's made from frontenac gris, sourced from the winery’s vineyards in the Thompson Valley. It's off-dry and easy drinking, but with depth and interest that elevate this beyond a mere patio sipper. It's rich, textured, and crisp, with honeyed pear, pineapple, and beeswax.

Pinot Gris

There are several impressive pinot gris already bottled from the 2025 vintage. We selected three, which show different sides of the variety:

Solvero 2025 Pinot Gris - $25.00 - anticipated release is May 1, 2026

Burrowing Owl 2025 Pinot Gris - $30.00 - now available

SpearHead 2025 Pinot Gris - $24.00 - now available

The SpearHead example is crisp, citrusy, and steely, with a subtle flintiness. It’s just as much about the bright, pure fruit as the precise, linear texture. The Solvero, sourced from the Summerland Bench, shows the spicier side of the variety. It combines restrained pear and green apple fruit with beeswax and anise. And the Burrowing Owl is more expressive and perfumed, with pear and lemon fruit that’s lifted by white orchard blossoms.

Riesling

For us, Riesling may be one of the star performers of the 2025 vintage so far.

Tantalus 2025 Riesling - $27.83 - anticipated release is April 1, 2026

8th Generation 2025 Riesling - $26.50 - anticipated release is early summer 2026

It starts with the benchmark in Tantalus. This is an impressive return, showing lime blossom, green apple, chalk and a subtle tropical note. But it’s all about the fruit concentration and balance: just off-dry, but with tremendous tension and verve.

The 8th Generation is decidedly off-dry in style, but no less balanced. Expect lime, green apple, and peach, with real generosity of fruit.

Other Whites

True to the Okanagan, there is no shortage of breadth and diversity. We’ve highlighted two other white wines that speak to that:

Le Vieux Pin 2025 Sauvignon Blanc - $31.99 - anticipated release is April 1, 2026

It feels like BC sauvignon blanc has been flying under the radar recently, and Le Vieux Pin shows why it’s worth our attention. It lands somewhere between Marlborough and Sancerre in style, with an attractive grassiness that doesn’t overpower the fruit, backed by lemon, white grapefruit, and white blossom.

Liber 2025 Pinot Blanc - $29 - anticipated release is April 15, 2026

A crisp, balanced example of pinot blanc, with lemon, green apple, and beeswax. Pinot blanc may not often get the spotlight, but it continues to produce reliable, dependable white wines that almost always overdeliver for the price.

Rosés

We’ve highlighted three rosés to start your spring.

Terravista Vineyards 2025 Mencia Rosé - $33 - now available

1 Mill Road 2025 Rosé - $38 - now available

Mt. Boucherie 2025 Rosé - $23.99 - now available

The Terravista rosé, which certainly must be the first (and only) mencia rosé from BC, is dry, crisp, and lightly floral, with pure cranberry and crab apple fruit. The 1 Mill Road is more classically Okanagan in contrast, made from pinot noir. It’s elegant and sophisticated, pouring a pale Provençal pink, with crystalline pink grapefruit, watermelon, and strawberry fruit. It’s poised, textured, and just about perfectly balanced. And, last but not least, the Mt. Boucherie rosé, a field blend of pinot noir and zweigelt, is the perfect style and price to have on hand throughout the summer, whether it's for the patio or pool-side.

Chillable Reds

Chillable reds are (finally) having their moment, and there’s a range of options to choose from. We were particularly taken with one:

Volcanic Hills 2025 Gamay - $22.99 - anticipated release is April 30, 2026.

Think of it as an elevated version of Beaujolais-Nouveau, with cherry, black raspberry, and violet notes that showcase both gamay character and drinkability. An excellent debut from new winemaker Taylor Partel.

In partnership with Wine Growers British Columbia, eligible wineries had to be active WGBC members as of March 2026. HJ Cha DipWSET and Geoffrey Moss MW jointly tasted all submissions.