France
Alsace
Mélanie Pfister, Bas Rhin: (July 9th): Harvest will be early, my pickers are informed. This week, we watered young vines (up to 4 yr) – it takes ages… but no choice. Most of the vines still look okay. Forecasts show rain from July 15th – fingers crossed!
Bordeaux
Château Haut-La Péreyre, Haut-Benauge (July 30th): It’s been an incredible fire—burning for a week now in the area between Bordeaux and the coast. A vast amount of forest has burned, and many people have been evacuated. I have childhood friends living in the Bordeaux suburbs who had to return to their parents’ home in Escoussans.
Things seem to have improved over the last few hours; the firefighters are gaining the upper hand. The weather forecast predicts a return to typical summer conditions—yesterday marked the end of the heatwave. Things are looking promising.
It appears the smoke won’t affect the grapes. I discussed this a few days ago with our consultant, Claude Gros—who, unfortunately, is accustomed to dealing with this issue in the Corbières region. It is the particles settling on the grapes that cause problems. When it is just smoke—as was the case in Escoussans on Saturday evening—there is no issue. After all, we are more than 40 km away from the fire.
The harvest is scheduled to begin around August 15th. With summer weather prevailing, the grapes are ripening daily; things will move quickly. It’s up to me to stay responsive.
Burgundy
Domaine Gilbert Picq et ses Fils, Chablis (Chichée) (August 18th): We are going to start the harvest on Thursday, a very early year.
Château de Fleys, Chablis (July 28th): On our side seems like the harvest will be for the end of august, keeping our fingers crossed for some rain.
Domaine Serrigny, Savigny-les-Beaune (July 9th): Yes, we are once again experiencing a major heatwave with very high temperatures; for the moment, the vines are holding up, but things will get very difficult if we don’t get any rain.
Domaine Joseph Voillot, Côte de Beaune(July 15th): The heat is intense; the vines have gone into survival mode, halting the progression of *véraison* (color change), which is currently in its very early stages. This situation is unprecedented for many of us, including the village elders and those in the surrounding area. While the lack of water had been manageable until now, we are eagerly awaiting rain—yet none is forecast for the immediate future.
It is difficult to predict how the grapes will reach maturity. The heat has struck right at the onset of *véraison*; while this shouldn’t affect the final sugar levels at this stage, the impact on acid degradation—particularly malic acid, which is abundant in the fruit—remains a major unknown. I think we would be happy if the final maturity profile ends up resembling that of 2020… though we will need sufficient juice to vinify under good conditions. We were also hit by a hailstorm on June 10th affecting the Pommard and Beaune areas, resulting in damage of around 20%.
A small consolation at this stage of the season is that the sanitary condition of the vines is excellent, with negligible signs of disease.
(July 28th): We had some rainfall on July 17, 18, and 19, bringing 13mm to Beaune and 21mm to Volnay. Intense heat has returned for the coming days. We are desperately waiting for more rain; while we realize how fortunate we were to have had some earlier, we can still see the vines suffering, and feeling powerless in the face of this situation makes us sad.
Domaine Sylvaine & Alain Normand, Mâconnais (August 4th): Because of the heat and ongoing drought, this year’s harvest has been delayed until August 25 instead of August 18. The lack of water has made it much more difficult for the grapes to reach optimal ripeness.
Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes, Beaujolais (Côte de Brouilly) (July 29th): 80% of the harvest has been touched by the grele (hail). It’s the first time in history that this happens in the Mont Brouilly . So 2026 does not look good. And as a lot of winemakers we don’t have insurance so we hope French government will help . [The grapes in the picture at the top of the page are Pavillon de Chavannes grapes.]
Champagne
Champagne Laborde, Nogent l’Abbesse (July 24th): The vines are doing well, despite the ongoing drought. The grapes are starting to change color (véraison). The weight of the bunches is expected to be low. We are still on schedule to start harvesting from 20 August.
(August 6th): The harvest is expected to begin exceptionally early. I currently estimate that we will start in Nogent l’Abbesse on August 19. The bunches are light due to the drought we’ve been experiencing since June. Acidity levels remain stable for now.
(August 13th): The harvest here is imminent. We are experiencing a fifth heatwave this week! The Chardonnays are ripening extremely fast, despite the drought. The berries have remained small, and low yields are expected.
Champagne Lancelot Pienne, Cramant (July 15th): We are suffering from this huge heat, especially when my cousin decided to get married on the hottest days !! Vines are doing ok.. Young ones are craving for water, so we had to water them last week and this Monday. But imagine, you need to provide 3 to 5 liters per vines, I let you do the math for an hectare where you have 8500 vines…We still do not know about the harvest but it will be for sure in August!
(August 7th): The harvest will be tremendously early this year. We should have been able to have at least two weeks of holidays but they shorten themselves to 9 days now. We will see if we have to shorten them even more! Useless to say that we are navigating in the fog.
Champagne Perrine Fresne, Sermiers (August 17th): We took a few days off before the harvest rush begins. We’re firing up the press tomorrow! The harvest promises to be quite unusual once again, with high sugar levels. For now, the acidity remains good, but the grapes have lacked water, so we have less juice.
Champagne Pierre Moncuit, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (August 18th): Harvesting starts in 2026 today!!!! The level is there, it’s beautiful, it’s good but the quantity will be lacking a priori. The frost, the lack of water and the high temperatures…[The grapes pictured to the left are Moncuit grapes.]
Champagne Roger Coulon, Vrigny (August 17th): We’ve never been so close to harvest! We’ll be starting on Thursday here at the Domaine. The secateurs, small picking baskets and press are all in place and ready to welcome our 50 harvest workers. The bunches are small and according to my father, this is shaping up to be an unusual year comparable to 1976 and 2003. We’ll see what the first Meunier pressings tell us on Thursday!
Jura
Domaine Jean-Luc Mouillard, Nevy-sur-Seille (July 31st) I hope that the weather isn’t like it is in France; it’s very, very dry, and rain is scarce. The grapes have stopped swelling; if it doesn’t rain, they’ll be low on juice.
Languedoc
Château Coupe Roses, Minervois (July 30th): We are fine here, we had a fire at 10km from La Caunette but no damage on our vines. We will start harvest slowly next week. Vines do their best to resist against the dryness and they look good. It is a challenge to be farmer with this weather– it is so hot, and no rain. But Mathias is a chef, he manages very well the vines and wine. I will give you more informations about the vintage 26 during and after harvest but I am optimiste for this vintage, it should be aromatic.
(August 4th): We will start harvest tomorrow, muscat are beautifull, Syrah are almost ready too. Crazy.
Domaine Ollier-Taillefer, Faugères (July 31st) As for the harvest, it looks like it will be tiny because there’s very little juice (we haven’t had any rain since May). Fortunately, however, we had heavy rainfall last winter that soaked deep into the ground, so the vines are able to draw up whatever moisture they need… so, apart from the young vines—which are really struggling—everything is fine.
Ours is perhaps one of the regions where the heatwave is most bearable, thanks to the marine air coming in from the Mediterranean. Plus, our vineyard (and the way the vines are trained) is well-suited to the heat.
Mas d’Amile, Terrasses du Larzac (August 4th): Out in the vineyard, the grapes are ripening, but they are tiny… Summer arrived very early, and despite the winter and spring rains, the berries have stopped getting big—it’s just too hot! We’re hoping for optimal ripening—and not just in terms of sugar levels.
Loire Valley
Domaine Lecointre, Anjou (July 28th): Yes, the heatwaves have been unprecedented this year but it seems that the worst is over (hopefully)! It was 90 degrees today and ~98 expected tomorrow but other than that things should stabilize in the high 80s (still above average for the region but nothing crazy). We’re still waiting for rainfall which we’re starting to get a bit desperate for… but alas we’re not alone in this!
To our surprise, most of the vineyards are doing all right all things considered. All of the fields and grass are yellow and dry, but the vines remain quite green. Our older vines are actually holding up quite well- probably due to their roots being deeper in the soil and thus at a stable, cool, and humid temp. The vines that aren’t doing so great are the ones in sandy/gravel type soil which makes up about a quarter of our total vines (chenin in these types of parcels). We’re aiming to be ready for harvest on August 17th (earliest, ever) but are prepared to adapt accordingly.
Domaine de la Chevalerie, Bourgueil (August 5th): We are experiencing a severe drought here, though fortunately no fires. The young vines are struggling, so we are spending all our time weeding. We are waiting for rain, but it doesn’t look like it’s coming anytime soon. Without rain, the harvest could be tricky, likely resulting in very little juice and high tannin levels. Things could still change, though—we certainly hope so! For now, we are planning to start between September 10th to 15th, but there is still a lot of uncertainty.
Domaines Minchin, Menetou-Salon (July 14th): The heat has been oppressive since June, with little relief. We were expecting an early harvest, but the lack of water and the heat have caused vine growth to stall; the clusters are well-formed and look beautiful, but they aren’t ripening for the moment. We should get some rain by the end of the week—it will do us all good!
Rhone (Southern)
Domaine de Saje, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (July 31st): It’s really incredible actually in France, a lot of fires (in the north of the country too – exceptional). Here the closest fires were to the south at 4 km, to the west at 7 km !!!! Last news on Domaine de Saje : new cellar is realised now, 2025 vinified inside and beautifull things (like usual !!) Actually 2026 gives me same spirit as 2017. To be continued !!!
Château Unang, Ventoux (July 28th): A couple of storms here have briefly taken the pressure off. But still plenty of time for more heat. I’ll soon be back to watering this year’s new vines.
(July 29th): We have had a couple of dumps of around 25mm in July – but these have come pretty intensely with a strafing of hail once. But unsurprisingly there have been more serious reports of 30% of crop impacted by hail from the recent storms elsewhere.
Heat has been manageable over the past week with lows well into the teens at night at Unang. We watered our 2026 plantation last week, starting at 5am, and I had condensation on my breath at about 6:30am – so perhaps less than 10° C in the valley! Nothing much predicted in the coming 10 days rain wise – but with the storms you never know. At least no fires!
Roussillon
Domaine Paul Meunier, Côtes du Roussillon (August 4th): We had a little break in Spain with the kids and when we came back it seemed that the muscat was ready to be picked… We put together a small team with friends and kid’s friends and start harvesting last Thursday…It was our first crop in July! The must is very elegant and fruity; we are happy with it but happy that the other vines are taking a bit more time. And… we eventually had rain last night!! which is a very good news for the rest of the crop !! Sue just shared with us some press from Tamlyn Currin, and it’s a very good feeling to read this when we are about to start the vintage.
Southwest
Château Marie Plaisance, Bergerac) July 22nd): The third heat wave has ended. But we still haven’t had any rain, and it’s still hot… The vines are really suffering, that’s for sure.
Italy
Chianti
Terreno, Chianti Classico (July 30th): The heat is terrible but the vines are fascinating. They are struggling but the veraison is not faster than usual… We are hoping for a few easy rains before harvest (no hail!) and we can have the same experience as back in 2022: after a terrible summer we actually had a good maturation (did not expect to even harvest…) Just hoping that the situation doesn’t get worse with fires and other challenges with this heat. A fellow producer in Spain has just lost their cellar in the fires…
(August 19th): We are starting the 2026 harvest at Terreno, we had some good rain, but was still very hot last week. Let’s see!
Piedmont
Azienda Agricola Giuseppe Nada, Barbaresco (August 2nd): Summer has been the hottest and driest ever experienced here in Piemonte; thanks to the heavy rain of April and May the vines are still fighting the drought very well. Grapes look very good so we’re expecting to have another high quality vintage!
Portugal
Quinta do Tedo, Douro (August 20th): Day 3 harvest at Tedo and grapes are coming in!
Domestics
California
Deovlet Wines, Santa Barbara (August 5th): We’re kicking into second gear already with the harvest. Due to a dry winter and an abnormally hot March, the vines pushed hard. Because of the early flowering/set, we are roughly 3-4 weeks ahead of historical starts. It was very exciting bringing in the first little bit of fruit from Baywood Ranch! We are creating an inaugural vintage commemorative sparkling wine with these first passes from the ranch. That will be a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc; percentages of each varietal are still to be determined.
Oregon
Goodfellow Family Cellars, Ribbon Ridge (July 29th): I feel like we’re getting to have both excitement for a fairly optimal vintage and a bit of survivor guilt disorder as we watch the fires and weather in Europe. So sad for everywhere over there but Bordeaux especially. It’s such a massive region with so many people’s livelihood there. Most of whom are not rich bankers…But on a cheerful note, we’re at 6 weeks to go and things are holding well as we get into veraison.