The French Wine Map: Which Region, and Which Month

Choosing when to go to a French wine region is as important as choosing where. The harvest, the November sales and the quiet months each change what a visit feels like. This guide takes eight regions in the order their harvests usually begin, introduces each one first and then gives the months that matter there.

A note on the dates. Harvest dates are set each year, region by region, and they move with the season. The windows below are the customary ones published by the regions themselves, not official dates for 2026. The two fixed dates in November, the Hospices de Beaune auction and Beaujolais Nouveau, are the exception.

Provence

Provence is known for its rosé. The harvest begins in the second half of August and runs to October at the latest, which makes it the first region of the French harvest calendar.

Months: late August to October. For a longer stay, see our five-day Provence itinerary.

Beaujolais

Beaujolais has 12 appellations and 10 crus, and 97% of its vines are Gamay. The harvest begins in early September.

Months: early September for the harvest, and the third Thursday of November, 19 November in 2026, for Beaujolais Nouveau.

The Rhône Valley

The Rhône is two wines in one valley. Syrah leads in the north and Grenache in the south, and Côte-Rôtie, the northernmost appellation, lies a few miles from Lyon.

Months: early to mid-September.

Bordeaux

On the Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon leads the blends, and on the Right Bank Merlot does. The harvest usually runs through September, with the whites earlier.

Months: mid-September. Our Bordeaux and Burgundy private wine journey puts the two together.

Burgundy

Burgundy is Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, classified as village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru. The harvest is in mid-September, and the calendar has two other dates worth knowing.

Months: mid-September for the harvest, 15 November for the Hospices de Beaune auction, and April, when the vines are at budbreak and the estates are quiet enough for a serious tasting. The auction is covered in our Hospices de Beaune guide.

The Loire Valley

The Loire has been a UNESCO cultural landscape since 2001, along about 250 km of river. Chenin is the white grape, Cabernet Franc the red, and Muscadet sits at the Atlantic end.

Months: mid-September.

Champagne

The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015. Start dates for the harvest are set village by village, so there is no single date for the region.

Months: late September, with the exact start decided each year.

Alsace

The Alsace Wine Route runs for about 170 km and was created in 1953. The grapes to know are Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris. Crémant is picked first, around 15 September, and the late harvests wait for mid-October.

Months: late September to mid-October.

How we organise it

Tell us the month and the region. We plan the hotel, the driver and the estates, and we book the tastings that need booking. For hotels see our hotel and villa service, and for the car our private chauffeur service.

Frequently asked questions

Which region has the earliest harvest? Provence, from the second half of August.

Which month fits more than one region? Mid-September covers Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley and the northern Rhône.

Is there a fixed date in November? Yes: the Hospices de Beaune auction on Sunday 15 November 2026, and Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday 19 November 2026.

Are the harvest windows official? They are customary windows. The actual start dates are set each year by the region.

Photo credits

• Moony Anna / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Anthospace / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
• Jarrod Doll / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Josep M. Gracia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• Olivier Letourneux / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Sergey Ashmarin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• INRA DIST from France / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Yzen2023 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0