The 2025 growing season is here, and 2024’s season may look like specks of dust in the rearview mirror. But there are still things to discover about how New York’s wineries and vineyards fared in 2024.
Last October, as the busy season in the vineyards wrapped up, signs pointed to an “epic” harvest season. Wine growers from all of New York State’s major growing regions, who had been adding up the challenging harvest seasons preceding 2024 that had difficulties such as early bud breaks, late-season spring frosts, heavy rains, lower yields, and other less-than-desirable conditions, reported there was much to be optimistic about.
We checked back with four wineries from those we spoke with last fall, each from a different region, to see if their initial analysis of the 2024 vintage was accurate, and what, if anything, was different than anticipated.
Paumanok Vineyards, Long Island
In the midst of the 2024 harvest, Kareem Massoud, winemaker at Paumanok Vineyards, said the vintage was “shaping up to be a low-yielding, but very high-quality vintage.”
Massoud said things did turn out as well as he expected in terms of quality, and, unfortunately, he was right about yield, too.
“It was the most heartbreaking vintage I have experienced. We had the most glorious ripening conditions any of us can remember,” he notes “It didn’t rain for three months during the vintage! However, we barely had any fruit to ripen as we suffered major losses due to a severe spring frost on April 26, 2024, resulting in significant bud mortality.”
In 2024, there was a lot of sun, dry weather, and much of the growing season also had cool nights. Those conditions led Massoud to be excited about the reds. There, too, he was accurate.
“I am very excited about the reds from 2024, the quality of the vintage is high across all varieties,” he told us recently. “Unfortunately, the quantities are very low.”
But, there is one unexpected bright spot from the 2024 vintage.
“The quality of the whites is even better than I realized. They have excellent focus and harmony, low pHs. Reminds me of 2013, another stellar vintage,” Massoud said.
Bella Rose Vineyard and Winery, Niagara Escarpment
Last fall, Michael Schweitzer, president of the Niagara Wine Trail and owner of Bella Rose Vineyard and Winery, reported that in the region, “an abundance of sun and heat delivered incredible results, especially for reds.” Mentioning specifically Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, we asked how those reds were faring now in the spring of 2025.
“In the Niagara region, specifically, Pinot Noir is going to be great. Whites, in comparison, struggled greatly, especially the early ripening vinifera,” Schweitzer said. “In general, it was a disappointing growing season with a lot of weather-related struggles.
But that doesn’t mean some good wines didn’t emerge from the struggle.
“Reds and possibly rosès will most likely be the winners in 2024’s vintage for sure. Most reds for late harvest and/or those with thicker skin did the best.”
Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery, Hudson Valley
When asked last October about the 2024 harvest, Whitecliff’s Vineyard & Winery’s co-founder Yancey Migliore said the harvest looked to be “perfect.”
Citing the year’s overall warm and dry weather, which she said is what’s needed for a good vintage, conditions allowed for harvest to start early in the last week of August, and she couldn’t remember a better September than 2024’s.
But harvest wasn’t complete when we spoke with her, so she cautioned that she needed to wait until it was over for an overall picture. One thing Migliore did mention was that there was a potential for “lovely Champagne method wines.”
Now, more than six months later, she’s found that yields weren’t as high as expected, but overall the quality was good. And that “the sparkling base wines turned out very nice, with very good fruit expression. Pet Nats could be stars from 2024.”
Reds fared well, too.
“2024 is likely to be a vintage year for reds,” said Migliore. “Ripeness levels were great, and good acid levels maintained even as the brix levels climbed. The ripeness is showing in the barrels.”
Silver Thread Vineyard, Finger Lakes
Shannon Brock, owner-manager at Silver Thread Vineyard, originally reported the quality of fruit from the harvest was “clean and balanced.” She now tastes that in the wines.
The wine is definitely clean and balanced, and of excellent quality, a natural outcome of starting off with great fruit,” she said. “You can’t make great wine out of bad fruit, so it’s always nice to start with the potential for greatness.”
While those in other regions praised their 2024 reds, Brock is very pleased with how her dry whites are coming along.
“I remember telling you the grapes were ideal for making dry styles, and I stand by that,” she said. “2024 was the warmest growing season on record in the Finger Lakes, which led to lower-than-average acidity in the grapes. Dry styles of Riesling are more palatable when the acidity is lower, so we made quite a bit of Dry Riesling. Likewise, our Gewürztraminer was made in a very dry style, which isn’t always the case for Silver Thread. We also made medium-dry and semi-dry styles of Riesling from 2024, which is typical for us. Overall, I would describe the Rieslings as powerful and intense, a reflection of the high level of ripeness that was achieved.”
One thing that continually amazes and reassures Brock about the Finger Lakes is that, despite the big swings in the weather, great wine is always achievable, even if they aren’t the same from vintage to vintage.
“The 2024 wines are unique, as are all the vintages that came before them, but full of the aromatics, nuance, and freshness that characterize the Finger Lakes,” she said.
That ability to make great wine under the varying conditions of each vintage speaks to the experience and adaptability of vineyard managers and winemakers, not just in the Finger Lakes, but throughout New York State. While it’s unknown what conditions the 2025 growing season will bring, what is clear is that New York’s skilled winemakers will know how to work with what it brings.
