Summer 2026 Newsletter
October 15th, 2026
It was a busy summer at BENOM, with plenty happening in the tasting room, the winery, and out among the vines. We welcomed the first wines from our 2024 vintage, bottled Origin and Reflet, and spent the warmer months tending to our estate vineyard in preparation for its first harvest. As summer came to a close, we brought in the first fruit of the season, including a few new varieties we're especially excited to work with. Along the way, we explored new approaches in the winery and found plenty to look forward to in the months ahead. We're excited to share the moments, milestones, and stories that made this summer one to remember.
A first taste of 2024
One of the highlights of our summer was welcoming the first wines from our 2024 vintage into the tasting room. Origin, Les Deux Frères, Lapsus, and Le Vingt made their debut, and we've loved having the opportunity to share them with so many of you.
Following the powerful, complex 2023 vintage, 2024 has a personality all its own. The growing season gave us a smaller harvest, but the wines have a beautiful balance of freshness, elegance, and opulence. As we head into the cooler months, these four wines are a perfect fit for the season ahead. We're featuring them on our tasting flight for a limited time, and we hope you'll join us for a taste.
A first for the estate
From canopy management and leaf removal to monitoring fruit development and ripening, much of the summer was spent preparing the BENOM Estate for its first harvest.
In the early morning hours of September 8th, we brought in our first two varieties from the estate vineyard: Syrah and French Colombard.
While Syrah is a familiar part of the BENOM portfolio, French Colombard has a more personal story. Early in his wine journey, while still living in France, Arnaud discovered a producer near his home whose French Colombard quickly became a favorite. Years later, that early inspiration has found a home at the BENOM Estate.
In our latest blog post, we're taking a closer look at this lesser-known variety and what makes the BENOM Estate an exciting place to grow it. Read the full story here.
NOTES FROM THE CELLAR
July kept us busy in the winery as we bottled Origin and Reflet. This year, we chose to give both wines an additional four months in barrel compared to previous vintages, allowing them more time to develop and come together before bottling.
We're also taking a thoughtful approach to how Origin evolves in the bottle. Known for its beautiful structure and aging potential, Origin often reveals more of its character with time. With that in mind, we're trialing a slightly thinner cork designed to allow a bit more oxygen exchange, with the goal of encouraging the wine to become more expressive earlier in its life. We'll begin by evaluating the results through bottles poured in our tasting room, comparing how the wine develops before deciding whether to incorporate this closure into future vintages.
SUMMER IN THE VINEYARD
From sun-filled days tending to the vines to the quieter moments around the estate, July, August, and September gave us plenty worth capturing. We've gathered some of our favorite photos to share a closer look at the vineyard as it grew and changed throughout the summer.
Thank you for making this summer one to remember. We hope to see you this fall!