Bordeaux France in Harvest Season: Wine Tours During the Picking

The harvest is when the châteaux bring in the year's grapes, and a wine tour in September can put you there while it happens. This guide explains when the picking runs, what you may and may not see, what the weather does, and which harvest events are dated for 2026. Use it to time your Bordeaux France booking.

When is the Bordeaux harvest?

From late summer into autumn, and nobody fixes the dates in advance. Each estate picks when its grapes are ripe, plot by plot, so the harvest does not start on one day across the region.

The order is broadly the same each year. The white grapes and the early plots come first. On the red side, the Merlot of the right bank, around Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, comes in before the Cabernet of the Médoc. In Sauternes the pickers go through the rows several times, one bunch at a time.

So if you want to see the picking, come in September and keep your plans loose. The wine council publishes no start date for 2026.

Can you see the picking on a tour?

Possibly. Travellers on the Saint-Émilion half days in September 2026 saw the harvest in the vineyards, and one group watched the grapes being crushed and walked through the processing area.

But no tour can promise it. The château decides on the day whether visitors see the cellar at work, and the picking moves from plot to plot. Book the tour for the wine and the village, and treat the harvest as a bonus.

Do the châteaux still receive visitors?

The tours keep running through September: the dates are on sale, and the fares on the cards were captured in September. What changes is inside the estate, where the château decides what visitors see while the cellar is at work.

The private operators keep their usual calendars through the season. The Ophorus days, for example, close only on 25 December, 1 January and 1 May, so a September date is as easy to book as any other.

On a private day, ask your guide which estates will be picking. On a shared day, the operator chooses the château, and your guide adapts the visit.

Is it busier, and should you book ahead?

Book ahead either way. The shared vans take six to eight people. Private operators book each château visit after you book with them, so give them time.

Most tours refund in full up to 24 hours ahead, so an early booking costs you little flexibility. The small-group day from the tourist office is the exception: it cannot be refunded.

What is the weather like in September and October?

September is warm and mostly dry. At Bordeaux-Mérignac, highs average 24.2 °C and lows 13.3 °C, with 81.2 mm of rain on about 9 days and 209 hours of sunshine. About three days in the month still pass 30 °C.

October is cooler and a little wetter: highs of 19.6 °C, lows of 10.7 °C, and 83.3 mm of rain on about 11 days. Pack a layer for the cellars in both months, and a rain jacket in October. The weather by month page has the full year.

If the harvest starts early, remember August. Highs there average 27.6 °C, and about 9 days in the month pass 30 °C, so an early-September tour can still be hot. Take the morning departure, and carry water.

Saint-Émilion or the Médoc at harvest time?

The right bank picks its Merlot before the Médoc picks its Cabernet, so early in the season Saint-Émilion is the likelier bank to find pickers in the rows. It also has the village, and the shared half days from the centre.

Later in the season, the Médoc's châteaux road is the place to watch the Cabernet come in. The Médoc days are private, so your guide can pick estates that are picking that week. Our guide to Saint-Émilion or the Médoc compares the two banks in full.

Can you join the picking yourself?

Not on these tours. None of the listings sells a place in the rows; you watch the picking and, with luck, the crush.

What you can do is walk in the vines. The Fête des Vendanges in October includes walks through the Saint-Émilion vineyard, and the e-bike days ride between the rows.

Which formats work best in harvest week?

• A morning half day: the vineyards are cooler, and you have the afternoon to spare. The eight-wine half day from 18 Place des Quinconces is back in four and a half hours.
• An e-bike day: you ride between the rows at the speed of the season. The day from the Colonnes rostrales puts every château fee, the wine and a picnic in the fare. The ride from the Chartrons crosses the Entre-deux-Mers on the way, with a picnic lunch.
• A private day: a guide who knows which estates are picking can build the day around them. SIP Wines builds its Saint-Émilion day to order.

Every half day is on the half-day wine tours page, and both e-bike days on the Bordeaux bike tours page.

What should you wear?

Closed shoes with a grip: vineyard paths, gravel and the cobbled lanes of Saint-Émilion. A light layer for the cellars, which stay cool, and a hat for the vines at midday. Some private days ask for smart casual.

Bring your own water on the organic half day from the Cité du Vin, which leaves it out of the fare, and on any e-bike day in the heat.

What happens after the picking?

The new wine goes into the tanks and barrels, and the vines turn gold and red in October. The châteaux are quieter than in September, and the tours carry on.

Saint-Émilion marks the end of the harvest with its Fête des Vendanges on 10 and 11 October 2026. Forty-five Grands Crus Classés take part, with walks in the vineyards, visits of the heritage sites, food workshops and tastings; the programme is still to come. In the Médoc, the Margaux appellation holds Margaux Saveurs every October, after the harvest.

In Sauternes the season runs on. Fog off the Ciron river and the afternoon sun bring noble rot, the fungus that concentrates the grapes, which is why the pickers return to the same rows several times.

From December the vines are bare and the pruners are out. Our guide to when to visit covers the rest of the year.

Do prices change in harvest season?

None of the listings sells a harvest supplement, and the fares on the cards were captured in September: shared half days $86 to $109, shared full days $178 to $292, private days $286 to $878 a person.

On the days that leave the château fees to you, ask the operator what each estate charges. Our guide to wine tour prices shows which days those are.

What else is there to do in Bordeaux in September?

September is mild in the city too. Walk the old city on the first morning, visit the Cité du Vin on a wet afternoon, and see the water mirror on Place de la Bourse at dusk. The Saint-Michel spire is open daily until the end of October, 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00.

The Bordeaux walking tours include a night walk with a canelé and a three-hour bakery walk from Saint-Michel.

Harvest week at a glance

The order holds every year, but the dates move with the weather. Plan the region, and let the estates choose the day.

Frequently asked questions

Tours for harvest week

From Bordeaux: Half-Day Saint-Emilion Wine Tour

Four and a half hours from 18 Place des Quinconces: a guided winery visit with its entry ticket and eight wines, then a guided walk in Saint-Émilion, eight people at most.

From $109 per person

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Saint Emilion Wine Tour by E-Bike- Bordeaux Pick up and drop off

A minivan from the Colonnes rostrales to Saint-Émilion, then e-bikes among the vines with a château, a wine bar and a picnic. Every château fee, the wine and lunch are in the fare; adults only.

From $350 per person

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Private Wine Lovers - Super St Emilion - behind the scenes visits top chateaux and medieval town

A tailor-made private Saint-Émilion day from about 9 am to 6:30 pm, with hotel or river-boat pickup and the château visits and tastings in the fare. Two people minimum.

From $632 per person

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