Heat brings early Bordeaux wine harvest — but not the earliest on record

Harvesting grapes to make wine started historically early in France this year due to the multiple heatwaves which have accelerated the ripening of grapes.

In some areas of Pyrénées-Orientales department, the first cuts of the pruning shears or secateurs, and the roar of mechanical harvesters started from July 27, mainly for white wines and some sparkling wines.

Similarly the start of August saw vineyards specialising in Crémant sparkling wine production in the Bordeaux wine area start harvesting.

Crémants, which are made in the same way as Champagnes, need grapes which are not too sweet and with a good balance of acidity, which is why they are often harvested a week to 10 days earlier than other white or rosé wines in the region.

Grapes need heat and sunlight to ripen, and the heatwaves, coupled with days without cloud have meant some vineyards find their grapes are now ready.

If the grapes are left too long they get too sweet, and there is a risk that the wines become “jammy” tasting, or have very high alcohol levels.

Champagne and Grand Cru 

In Champagne, itself, the harvest was due to start this Wednesday, 12 August, three days earlier than was first expected.

In the Bordeaux  Grand Cru estates, which make some of the more expensive red wines, the start of the harvest is due to start on August 17 compared with a usual start of the first or second week of September.

19th century record still in tact 

But the early start for the Grand Crus in the Bordeaux region is not an absolute  record – that is held by the year 1893, when a hot summer and exceptional conditions meant the go-ahead was given for 15 August, with some properties making excellent vintages that year.

Similarly there are big hopes for the 2026 vintage.

“The vintage is shaping up to be an early one due to the climatic conditions observed since the beginning of the growing season, and it already shows great promise of exceptional quality,” said Sara Briot-Lesage for the Bordeaux wines trade body, Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB).

“The 2026 vintage is proving to be historically early, both for Crémant production and for certain, very specific white wine plots. 

“The rainfall we experienced over the weekend has undoubtedly been beneficial for the ongoing development of the vines.”

Most of the Bordeaux region had at least 3mm of rain over the first weekend of August, after a June when as little as 15mm fell the whole month, and a July where around 30mm fell, mainly in one big downpour in the middle of the month.

‘Smoke’ taste from wildfires

Bordeaux wines are not likely to have any “smoke” taste from the huge forest fire which destroyed 420km2 of pine forest in the last week of July.

Thick, pea-soup style smoke fog covered most of the wine areas for at least one day during the fire.

“The Bordeaux vineyards, covering around 86,000 hectares, are located far from the Atlantic coastline where the fires occurred,” said Ms Briot-Lesage.

The nearest vineyards are 15km from where the fire ended.

“Today, now that the fires have been fully contained, which is a tremendous relief after a number of particularly challenging days, several key factors allow us to state with confidence that neither the vineyards nor the upcoming harvest have been affected.

“It is important too to acknowledge the exceptional commitment of local farmers and winegrowers, who provided invaluable assistance to firefighters in making tractors, water tanks and other equipment available.

“The areas affected by the fire were not wine growing regions.”

California example 

Concern about the effects of smoke came mainly from the experience of some Californian vineyards making quality wines where whole vintages were spoiled by a heavy smoke taste after wildfires.

But in Bordeaux, scientists who looked at the California experience and the effect of the 2022 forest fires, are confident that smoke taint usually only occurs when fires are within a few hundred metres of the vines, and occurs usually in the first 24 hours of the fire when the smoke is at its worst.

The experts have found that the mere exposure to smoke does not give a smoke taste, which depends on vines absorbing specific volatile phenolic compounds.

Levels of risk depend on factors including how close the vines are to the fire, how long they were covered in smoke, and the stage of grape ripening, with ripe grapes more at risk.

“During the recent fires, harvest was still several weeks away, and the grapes were only at the beginning or middle of the veraison period (the time they take on colour, swell, and soften),”said Ms Briot-Lesage.

“At this stage the grape skin acts as a natural protective barrier and significantly limits the absorption of these compounds.”

Unfortunately for winegrowers in the Var department, it is possible that some of them will suffer from “smoked” wines, because forest fires approached in some places to the edge of the vineyards.

The Var vineyards mainly make rosé wines, most of which are drunk in France.