With bud break underway across the country, a new viticultural season has begun. So, too, has the new commercial season, with the bottling lines rolling out whites and roses made in 2025. And many barrel-aged whites and reds made in 2024, and even back to longer aged 2023 and 2022 reds that are also coming out of hibernation. 

This post covers all these bases, as will the next post on May 14. So much new wine arrives in market at this time of the year that I want to give it space. And it always exciting to see what’s new, which is a focus here, along with some classics. With an added note that this post is full of less-expensive and very good value wines.

This introductory article will be fairly brief, only serving to set the scene and discuss the new 2025 vintage.

The overall wine market is down around the world, due to a complex matrix of social, cultural and financial/affordability factors. A dwindling boomer population is drinking less and drinking down their cellars instead of buying more wine. Many folks of all ages are choosing to abstain or drink less for health and lifestyle reasons, and there are so many more options in a wider range of beverages. Another factor may be the rise in use of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic that include the GLP-1 medication, which suppresses appetite as well as the pleasure of eating and drinking, as reported this week in The Globe & Mail and Macleans. 

Yet the mood in the Canadian wine market remains positive given a historic spike in VQA sales across the country. Certainly, the absence of California wine in most provinces is a factor, and we all wonder what will happen when American wine returns. I am sensing that enough new consumers will have come to appreciate the lighter, higher acid and pure style of Canadian wine. And it is the underlying premise of this website that quality and value is tangible, too. 

And Canada doesn’t need every Canadian to be drinking Canadian wine. We simply don’t have enough to go around if they did. Our vineyard area is tiny compared to the other regions in the world — maybe 32,000 acres, while Washington, Oregon and New York have over 40,000 each. There are nine wineries in California that each make more wine than all of Canada. So, we just need to ensure that our small, precious vineyards are dedicated to making the best we can.

The 2025 vintage is being hailed heartily in both British Columbia and Ontario. We have not yet broached Quebec and Nova Scotia in this regard, but maybe by mid-May. There is a major new release of 2025 Tidal Bay wines scheduled for an event in Halifax at the end of May.

The Okanagan is particularly pleased with 2025. After the stunning freeze of January 2024 that wiped out more than 95% of the crop — and about 30% of the vineyards — the 2025 vines that did survive ushered forth a much larger crop than expected. And the long warm growing season that sailed right through September — without insane heat spikes or wildfires — has delivered a healthy, balanced and ripe crop.

Ben Bryant of 1 Mill Road in Naramata, who’s brilliant 2025 Pinot Noir Rosé is reviewed below, is stoked by the vintage. He said: “2025 provided a really good growing season with high growing degree days, ideal heat time, hot during the summer then a bit cooler and even dry at harvest. I am excited by the purity and varietal expression and site differentiation. All my vineyards in Naramata survived 2024 and came back very well. Alcohols are perfectly loaded just below 13%, just where I like them.” 

Ontario’s VQA is also declaring “another standout year for Ontario wine” after a string of very good years in 2022, 2023 and 2024. But 2025 was a bit of a rollercoaster. Spring blew hot and cold through April and May, but June settled into considerable summer heat that lasted through the end of August, causing drought-like heat stress that can shut down ripening. The September harvest period was warm and even, but into October cooler, wetter conditions required good timing for the harvest of later varieties. 

So, we sail into the new season in excellent shape, and with more optimism from the industry that I have heard in some time.