Ten Harvests In: New Names, an Early Vintage, and a Sushi Side Piece

We're bottling, picking grapes, and turning ten all at the same time. 

Over the past couple of weeks, the cellar has been full-tilt as we were preparing our Fall release for you. We bottled four 2025s alongside four 2024s making their debut, and all eight wines were released to the club on August 15th. We are particularly excited to have the next vintage of Chenin Blanc and Ascona Syrah available for those of you who have been asking! You know who you are ;)

Out in the vineyards, we're in the middle of what's shaping up to be the earliest harvest on record for the Santa Cruz Mountains. After the early bud break and bloom we saw back in the spring, the fruit has kept right on that accelerated timeline. Although we were not exactly prepared to start harvest this early, the quality of the grapes looks quite good and they will certainly produce a wine that is uniquely shaped by the bizarre weather this year.

This harvest also happens to be our tenth at Madson, and we didn't want to let that pass quietly. To mark ten years, we're giving our yearly cuvées names that reach back to where Cole's Santa Cruz Mountains winemaking began. His very first SCM wines were called "Les Enfants des Nuages" and "Les Enfants du Soleil", Children of the Clouds and Children of the Sun. In their honor, this year's Pinot Noir cuvée becomes "Les Nuages" and the Chardonnay becomes "Le Soleil". "Les Nuages" is a nod to the coastal fog and cloud cover that define our terroir, the cool grey blanket that slows ripening down and lets Pinot hold onto its acidity and nuance. Le Soleil is a tip of the hat to the sun that breaks through that same cover, doing the work of ripening and giving Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay its particular character. 

Now that the wine celebration has wrapped, we're opening the doors to the public on Thursdays for something new: the debut of our partnership with Sidepiece Sushi, a sushi pop-up we're thrilled to have on site. It felt fitting to follow a weekend celebrating ten years of Madson with a first taste of what's ahead: Good wine, good food, and a reason to linger a little longer with your glass.

It's a lot happening at once, which feels about right for a tenth harvest. Thank you, as always, for being part of it.

Santé, The Madson Team