By Elin McCoy, Bloomberg News

On Aug. 28 in Saint-Emilion, France, pickers fanned out into the vineyard at Château Troplong Mondot. It was the earliest harvest start in the estate’s history.

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Record-breaking early picking was a key feature of harvest 2025. In Alsace, the date was Aug. 19; in Champagne, Aug. 20; for the white grapes in the Rhône Valley, mid-August, two weeks earlier than last year. In Germany’s Rheingau region, some grapes were picked at the end of August, three weeks earlier than the long-term average.

In most European wine spots, harvests were speedy too. At first-growth Château Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, the first red grapes came in on Sept. 5, and picking wrapped up historically early, on Sept. 20.

It’s clear that rising temperatures and the extreme weather of climate change are compressing the growing season and shifting the harvest timetable. The good news this year is that winemakers from France to Germany to Spain (with some exceptions) are excited by the promise of high-quality wine, even though yields are lower than they would like.

For that, blame the extended heatwaves, drought and destructive wildfires that now regularly play havoc with both quantity and quality and seem to affect different wine regions around the world every year.

According to a global study released in May by two French agricultural research institutes and the University of British Columbia, wine-growing regions have warmed, on average, by the equivalent of nearly 100 extra growing degree days over the past 70 years. Growing degree days are a measure of the cumulative heat vines are exposed to, which influences growth and ripening. Europe has felt the biggest impact.

In every vintage the effects can be uneven. Take France. When it comes to quality, Bordeaux lucked out in 2025. A hot, dry summer brought good ripeness, and cooler weather and a bit of rain at the end of August restored balance. The grapes at Mouton Rothschild were rich and in good condition, and the team expects a classic vintage with great structure, concentration and aging potential.

By contrast, in the south of France, the local producers’ organization in Corbières dubbed 2025 “the summer of hell.” In mid-August, the largest wildfire in France in more than 70 years destroyed 80% to 90% of some vineyards, including those of organic Clos de l’Anhel and Cellier des Demoiselles.

Extremely hot, dry conditions help fires spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely, as they also did this year in northwestern Spain, on Napa’s Howell Mountain and in Portugal’s Douro Valley. Winemakers worry that wines from vines that didn’t burn will be affected by smoke taint and end up with ashy flavors.

The roller-coaster of what happens during harvest is why it’s a high-emotion season for winemakers.

Oregon winemaker Maggie Harrison of Antica Terra described the stress this way: “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. But I always know that when I step up to the sorting table, there is a reserve of energy, a switch-on kind of magic that happens, and I can’t flipping wait.”

Translation: Deep down winemakers are always optimists.

Climate change isn’t the only challenge for harvest 2025. Consumption is down, and tariffs promise price hikes. Vineyards are being pulled out everywhere from Sonoma to Bordeaux. Even if the wines this year are excellent, the big question is: Will people buy them?

Here’s an overview, by region:

ENGLAND

No frost and a long, even summer meant perfect ripening for both chardonnay and pinot noir. The warmest summer on record brought both exceptional quality and abundant quantity, a far cry from last year. Although 75% of English wine is sparkling, ripeness levels were high enough for producers to make more still wines to fulfill growing demand from the 55% increase in vineyard visitors over the last 12 months.

FRANCE

Alsace

According to the Alsace Winegrowers Association, it was the earliest harvest ever recorded. A warm spring, followed by back-to-back summer heat waves with rain at just the right moments, speeded up ripening. Expect rieslings with crystalline acidity and concentrated pinot noirs with beautiful balance.

Bordeaux

“The growing season unfolded with remarkable serenity,” said Veronique Sanders of Château Haut Bailly in Pessac-Léognan over e-mail. “A dry hot summer resulted in small berries with a striking concentration of aromas and structure.” Jean-Philippe Delmas of first-growth Château Haut-Brion cited the wines’ vibrant acidity and remarkable balance. It’s a sharp contrast to 2024, with its spring frosts, mildew and the lowest level of production since 1991. Will 2025 continue the tradition of great years ending in “5”?

Burgundy

“Small but beautiful and similar in style to 2020 and 2022” is the assessment of Frédéric Drouhin, president of Maison Joseph Drouhin, which owns organic vineyards all over Burgundy. Although the crop is down 30% compared to a “normal” year, he says, “the premiers crus reds of the Côte de Beaune are really fantastic and homogeneous, while the whites show intense aromatics.” Add in great aging potential.

While many domaines had finished picking by Sept. 5, others, especially in the Côte de Nuits, delayed, looking for more ripeness, so it will be a vintage of contrasting styles.

Still, the Macon region suffered hail and almost tropical heat, so some producers lost as much as 80% of their crop.

The overall low quantity comes at a time of high demand for Burgundy, so expect even higher prices.

Beaujolais and Jura

In Jura, the mood is upbeat because of a 200% quantity rebound after 2024 when the region experienced devastating frosts.

The tale in Beaujolais is the reverse: Heat waves, drought and mildew cut yields to their lowest level in 35 years. What’s left is good, though. For the winemaker at Château des Jacques, the vintage compares with charmers like 2005, 2015 and 2020.

Champagne

Talk about enthusiasm! Producers are hailing 2025 as the best vintage in 30 years. It was so rapid that chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, who presided over Champagne Louis Roederer’s 250th harvest, refers to it as “the Formula One vintage” and had presses going around the clock. “The year will remain etched in the memory of great winegrowers and winemakers,” crows Sébastien Le Golvet, chef de cave at Champagne Henri Giraud. “The first wines are extraordinary.” The excellent ripeness of pinot noir and pinot meunier suggests great potential for rosés in 2025, according to Taittinger’s vineyard director.

Loire Valley

“What a vintage!” says Loic Cailbourdin of Domaine Cailbourdin in Pouilly-Fumé, who calls the quality in this record early harvest “superb,” a huge improvement over last year. Nights and mornings were cool, afternoons not too hot. In Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre, sauvignon blancs have good acidity, freshness and that salty mineral character aficionados love, while cabernet franc is also a success, with production up 26% over last year.

Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon

Don’t worry about Provence rosé. There will be enough—if you’re willing to pay higher prices because of tariffs. At Château d’Esclans, as at other estates, night harvesting to maintain freshness and acidity was key to the wines’ purity, refinement and harmony.

But in the Languedoc, August heatwaves, hail and wild boar reduced the crop, and disastrous fires with flames that reached 10 meters (33 feet) high torched some vineyards in Corbières. There are worries about smoke taint, but some producers say reds that are left are velvety and fresh.

The Rhône

Harvest started 10 days earlier than in 2024, thanks to an intense heatwave in August and no rain. Stephane Ogier of the eponymous domaine in Côte-Rôtie says wines show “great finesse and magnificent concentration, with roundness and density rather than tannic power.” In Crozes-Hermitage, reds have good balance and acidity, says Yann Chave of his eponymous domaine, but volumes are down 30%.

GERMANY

High quality, but the smallest vintage since 2010, reported the German Wine Institute. Earlier yield predictions were more optimistic, but heavy mid-September rains reminded winemakers that harvest isn’t over until it’s over. A high level of ripeness and concentration in both pinot noir and riesling bode well for rich, collectible wines.

ITALY

Great expectations of exceptional quality from north to south. Some regions produced 10% less than last year, but in quantity, Italy is the leading wine producer this year, surpassing France.

Prosecco

Franco Adami, president of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Consortium, the premium subregion for prosecco, says the vintage is exceptional in terms of quality, one of the three or four best of the last three decades, especially when it comes to aromas.

Tuscany

A very good vintage of high quality, thanks to slow ripening and striking contrasts between hot days and cool nights.

In the Chianti Classico wine region, Isole e Olena posted, “all signs point to a vintage of remarkable character.” Expect wines with brightness and freshness, subtle floral hints, delicate fruit notes and elegance.

Cristina Mariani-May, the chief executive officer of her family’s Italian winery Banfi, which makes wines in Montalcino and other parts of Tuscany, emailed that the reds in Montalcino are richer in color than last year, which promises superb, collectible Brunellos.

And at Ornellaia in Bolgheri, winemaker Marco Balsimelli said over Zoom, “I’m very happy. The character of the vintage is a lot of concentration, merlot with freshness, lots of elegance and silky, velvety tannins.”

Piedmont

A great vintage, perfectly balanced.

It started as an early vintage, but winemakers were able to wait for perfect ripeness and achieve elegance and precision, along with gorgeous rose petal aromas. Speaking to Italian website WineNews, enologist Gianlucca Torrengo at Prunotto said, “The grapes are of a quality we haven’t seen in years.” This will be a vintage to collect.

Sicily

Antonio Rallo of Donnafugata winery sees “2025 as a return to normalcy.” He adds: “It’s better than last year, and the quality of the grapes looks promising.” Along with good rainfall, Rallo cites no prolonged heat extremes or drought, unlike last year. It was a vintage that didn’t require an early harvest. A high point is the delicious Frappato.

PORTUGAL

The 2025 growing season was one of the most challenging in recent decades. In the Douro, land of vintage port, Charles Symington, head winemaker at Symington Family Estates, cites drought and severe heatwaves, with 10 days above 40C (104F). Grapes are tiny, 30% smaller than average, which means a lot less wine, though it will be very concentrated and potentially very good.

SPAIN

It’s complicated. Quantity is generally down, and wines in many regions will be excellent, but disaster struck in Galicia. Catastrophic fires charred vineyards and poured out thick clouds of smoke in Valdeorras, Bierzo and trendy Ribeira Sacra. Some wineries, like Alvaredos-Hobbs, won’t release any 2025 wines.

Parts of Rioja faced a difficult growing season, with some hail, but at CVNE, Irene Bonilla, head of viticulture, describes the harvest as “ideal,” with ripening and reds with deep color and firm tannins, fresh and expressive.

In Catalonia, the home territory of Familia Torres, rainfall in the spring was welcome after three years of severe drought. Torres sees reds with promising red fruit flavor profiles, length, freshness and good acidity, compared to previous years. And in Ribera del Duero, Vega Sicilia reports the year is outstanding.

US

Napa

An unusually cool growing season and no extreme heat spikes resulted in bright but rich wines with complex flavors and aromas. Matt Crafton of Chateau Montelena finds the vintage is similar to 2018; winemaker Dan Petroski of Massican, sees lighter, brighter, fresher whites.

But the year was still brutal. The lack of demand means some grapes will rot on the vines.

And on Howell Mountain, the August Pickett Fire damaged grapes with heat or smoke at more than a half a dozen wineries. Robert Craig Winery lost about 90% of production; Dunn lost it all.

Sonoma

“The 2025 vintage is a special one,” says Jesse Katz of Aperture. He says cooler weather—the coldest July since 2010—resulted in whites with incredibly complex flavors and aromas, and cabernets with balance and elegance. And on the Sonoma coast, pinot maker Jamie Kutch of his eponymous winery explains that a cool, foggy summer slowed ripening and preserved freshness and acidity. He’s “cautiously optimistic” for elegant, nuanced wines.

Paso Robles

A plentiful vintage from one of the coolest growing seasons on record, yet an early harvest. At Tablas Creek, picking started on Aug. 24, and by mid-October only about 15% was left to bring in, mostly unusual varieties like counoise and terret noir. “The fruit that’s come in looked terrific,” winemaker Jason Haas posted on his blog. The consensus: Multiple varieties benefited from the long, slow ripening.

Oregon

Optimism reigns for a spectacular vintage. Early and fast made for a crazy-busy harvest. A warm dry summer, then a series of 95F-plus days pushed things along quickly. Winemaker Piper Underbrink of Sealionne Wines and Privé Vineyards sees the perfect concentration, balance and excellent acidity needed for a vintage to age. Think rich, ripe wines. The biggest challenge: shortage of labor.

Washington State

Sarah Hedges Goedhart, director of winemaking at Hedges Family Estate in Red Mountain AVA, predicted, “This could be one of those vintages that people talk about for decades. We’re seeing deep color, high acidity, balance and great flavors across a range of varietals.” Winemakers talk about near-perfect growing conditions. The wines, says David Merfeld of Northstar winery in Walla Walla, will be lush, soft, jammy and fruity.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By STEFANIE DAZIO

The Nordic countries are no strangers to the long, dark winter.

Despite little to no daylight — plus months of frigid temperatures — people who live in northern Europe and above the Arctic Circle have learned how to cope mentally and physically with the annual onset of the winter blues, which can begin as early as October and last into April for some.

The winter solstice will occur Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won’t be over for a while yet.

The Associated Press spoke to experts in Norway, Sweden and Finland about the winter blues. Here’s how they suggest looking for light, literally and figuratively, during the darkest months of the year:

Maintaining sleep and social habits are key

Dr. Timo Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the dark winter affects our circadian rhythm.

With limited daylight, our internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly and it throws off our sleep. We may sleep longer in the winter, he said, but we don’t wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.

Partonen recommended trying a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up your bedroom and ease you awake.

In addition to being more tired, we’re more likely to withdraw from others socially in the wintertime. We’re more irritable, Partonen said, and more prone to fights with friends.

It’s important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.

And since keeping up with exercise is also key to combating the winter blues, consider inviting a friend along for a workout.

It could also help keep off the wintertime weight gain — typically 2 to 5 kilograms (4 to 11 pounds) a year, Partonen said — that’s fed by cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.

Light therapy encouraged for a range of symptoms

Millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression. Also known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, patients typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. A milder form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical experts, and there’s also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.

Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. Sunlight is loaded with the blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains’ alertness centers are activated and we feel more awake and possibly even happier.

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Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.

In severe cases, people need clinical support and antidepressant medications. Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests light therapy for people with SAD as well as those who have a milder case of the winter blues.

“It’s not like it’s a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it,” Benedict said. “There are possibilities to affect it.”

A routine of morning light therapy, using devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light, can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.

The light therapy helps to kickstart your circadian rhythm and increases serotonin in your brain, Benedict said.

Research supports using a light that’s about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness, for 30 minutes every morning. Special lights run from $70 to $400, though some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. Your insurance company might cover at least part of the cost if you’ve been diagnosed with SAD.

Partonen recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon.

Yale has tested products and offers a list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide to selecting a light.

Prioritizing a positive outlook as a survival strategy

And don’t forget to, well, look on the bright side. It’s crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it, according to Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Tromsø, also known as the Arctic University of Norway — the world’s northernmost university.

Prioritize a positive outlook as a survival strategy and learn to appreciate the change in seasons. It’s a typical Norwegian way of thinking, she said, that can make all the difference when there’s very little daylight for months.

“It’s part of the culture,” she said.

And don’t forget to take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, she said. Inside, channel hygge — the Danish obsession with getting cozy — and snuggle up on the couch with blankets and a movie.

But don’t hibernate all winter. After the film finishes, head outside with a thermos for fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break. Even during cloudy days, a quick walk in the fresh air will help, she said. And if you’re brave enough, do a cold plunge like many people in the Nordics.

Solhaug tries to jump into the frigid waters off the coast of Tromsø, an island 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, at least once a week, adding that it makes her feel revitalized during the long winter.

“Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness,” she said.

After all, as many Nordic people say, there’s no such thing as bad weather — only bad clothing.

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, too, had some tips for how to tackle Nordic winters. When asked in an interview with The Associated Press last month how to survive the cold season, he had some very specific advice.

“Take an ice bath and then followed up by a sauna and do one more ice bath, one more sauna, then a shower and go out there. You’ll manage,” Stubb said.

Dazio reported from Berlin.

We all know about points, rebounds, assists, etc.

The counting stats get much of the glory in basketball. But how does your team perform when you’re on the floor?

That’s what net rating measures — the points per 100 possessions for your team versus your opponents. The more positive your number, the better your team is playing with you on the court. The more negative? Well, you get it.

Here are Minnesota’s updated individual numbers, with the offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions), defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) and net rating (offense and defense combined) through 25 games of the season, per NBA.com, with the biggest takeaway from each:

Offensive Ratings

Julius Randle: 121.7

Donte DiVincenzo: 121.6

Anthony Edwards: 120.4

Jaden McDaniels: 119.4

Rudy Gobert: 117.5

Bones Hyland: 115.0

Mike Conley: 114.1

Naz Reid: 113.9

Jaylen Clark: 110.3

Terrence Shannon Jr.: 106.0

Rob Dillingham: 103.7

Takeaway: DiVincenzo continues to surge up this list. The sharpshooter is also proving to be a barometer for Minnesota’s team success. He’s at his best when the Wolves are playing with pace and moving the ball, which is also when the Timberwolves are at their best as a team.

Minnesota is 9-2 this season in games in which DiVincenzo makes four-plus triples.

Defensive Ratings

Jaylen Clark: 104.9

Bones Hyland: 108.8

Rudy Gobert: 109.0

Rob Dillingham: 109.6

Jaden McDaniels: 112.4

Donte DiVincenzo: 112.5

Naz Reid: 113.8

Mike Conley: 114.3

Julius Randle: 114.8

Anthony Edwards: 116.4

Terrence Shannon Jr.: 121.0

Takeaway: Clark and Gobert continue to be conduits for elite defense, while his struggles on this end of the floor remain the primary concern for Shannon Jr.

Net Ratings

Donte DiVincenzo: 9.1

Rudy Gobert: 8.6

Jaden McDaniels: 7.0

Julius Randle: 7.0

Bones Hyland: 6.2

Jaylen Clark: 5.4

Anthony Edwards: 4.1

Naz Reid: 0.1

Mike Conley: -0.2

Rob Dillingham: -5.9

Terrence Shannon Jr.: -15.0

Takeaway: The individual net ratings for Minnesota’s starters are good, but ideally title contenders have top players with net ratings in the double digits at this point in the season.

The fact the Wolves don’t have any displays the lack of consistent dominance to date

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By TRACEE M. HERBAUGH

As shoppers flood stores across the country during the year’s biggest shopping season, retail workers are bracing for what many describe as the most demanding — and often demoralizing — stretch of the job.

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“It magnifies everything,” said Nick Leighton, host of the podcast “Were You Raised by Wolves?,” which he co-hosts with comedian Leah Bonnema. Together, they dissect etiquette and the subtleties of social behavior.

“People are stressed, they’re busy, they’re frazzled,” he said. “When that happens, we tend to forget other people exist.”

Whether it’s gridlocked parking lots or shelves picked clean, the holiday retail environment can become a pressure cooker where manners evaporate quickly.

November and December have long driven retail sales, prompting companies to hire large numbers of seasonal workers to manage the surge. These workers often absorb the brunt of shoppers’ frustration. Some customers treat employees as extensions of a corporation rather than as people.

This year, there might be even fewer employees to handle crowds of holiday shoppers. Companies say they could cut back on seasonal workers because of economic uncertainty, while at the same time, shoppers are expected to spend more than they did last year.

“Yelling at a worker isn’t doing anything,” Leighton noted. “Everyone else is busy, too…. Your shopping isn’t more important than the next person’s.”

Here are some expert suggestions on how customers can be kinder, more polite and more empathetic toward the people helping to execute all those holiday lists.

Manners apply everywhere

People who behave courteously generally do so everywhere, while those who are rude in stores often have similar issues in their personal lives, etiquette consultants say.

“We do not pay retail workers to be a therapist, a social worker or a punching bag. It’s not appropriate, and it’s not fair,” said Jodi R.R. Smith, president of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting in Massachusetts. Long before she advised companies on etiquette, Smith worked several holiday seasons at a Hallmark store.

Plan your shopping trip and leave time

FILE – Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher, File)

Smith advises shoppers to plan ahead — knowing who is on their list, which stores they need to visit and when they will go. “Set yourself up for success,” she said. “Bring water or a snack. Do not go hungry.”

Timing matters as well. “Ask yourself, ‘When is the best time to go?’” she said. “Weekends are busier, lines are longer and parking is tighter. If possible, go on a Wednesday morning when the store opens.”

Establish a little rapport

Shoppers browse through stores at Mall of America for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Bloomington, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Bettcher)

Smith suggests making friendly eye contact with workers, offering a greeting and using humor to diffuse tense moments. If someone in line becomes irritable, she said, a gentle joke about needing a nap can reset the mood.

“We don’t have control over others’ behavior, but we certainly do over ours,” she said.

Shoppers can help reduce frustration by asking questions — and recognizing that workers may not have all the answers, said Elizabeth Medeiros, 59, who spent more than 35 years in retail in New York and the Boston area.

Some companies are acting preemptively. Delta Airlines is encouraging kindness between customers and employees with a “Centennial Cheer” program. It says it will recognize “100,000 acts of kindness” with Holiday Medallion cards, which can be redeemed for gifts.

Manage expectations

Jenny Poole pushes a shopping cart at Kohl’s on Black Friday, Jenny has shopped at this Kohls on Black Friday every year for the last 10 years, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Customers often assume store employees can control everything from inventory and discounts to restocking speed and even the behavior of other shoppers, she said.

They can’t.

“Customers are focused, especially during the holidays,” said Medeiros, a former district sales manager and longtime store manager. “They’re checking off lists and looking for deals, and anything that interferes with that throws them off.”

Holiday work is already tough for staff under the best of circumstances, she noted. “Everyone is often stretched thin. Breaks get skipped, shifts get extended unexpectedly and six-day workweeks become common.”

As Smith puts it: “Clerks are not the CEO. Don’t expect someone making hourly wages in December to change a store policy you don’t like.”

Training workers to defuse tension

Shoppers browse through Kohl’s department store for Black Friday deals, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Woodstock, Ga. (AP Photo/Megan Varner)

Adam Lukoskie, executive director of the National Retail Federation Foundation, emphasized that most customer interactions remain positive.

“In the news you might see a couple of incidents, but most experiences are OK,” he said. “We work hard to provide a high-quality environment.”

The industry has invested in new training programs to prepare workers for tense encounters, Lukoskie said.

The foundation’s RISE Up skills-training courses now reach more than 80,000 people annually. “It gives associates the tools to provide customer service and to understand that an angry customer is usually mad at the problem, not at them,” he said.

Above all, he said, shoppers should reframe how they view the person behind the counter.

“Act as if the person helping you is your daughter or son, or your mother or father. Not just someone there to do a task for you.”