A Bordeaux Harvest Holiday: What Happens When You Visit in September

The Bordeaux harvest usually runs from mid-September into October, and staying on a working vineyard in those weeks means you watch the year's wine being made around you: picking teams in the rows, tractors bringing in the grapes and the cellar filling with fermenting Merlot. At Château Méaume the farmhouse sits in the middle of it all, so guests see harvest from the inside rather than from a tour bus. It is the busiest time of year on the estate and the most exciting time to visit, and it is the first time of year to book up.

When is the grape harvest in Bordeaux?

There is no fixed date, because the grapes decide. Harvest in Bordeaux generally starts with the white grapes, then moves to Merlot, which ripens earlier than Cabernet Sauvignon, so on the Right Bank, where Merlot leads, picking often begins in mid-September and the last Cabernet can come in during October. A hot summer brings everything forward and a cool, damp one pushes it back.

On our estate the call is made in the vineyard and the cellar. Mark and Bruno, our winemaker since 2010, taste the grapes, check the sugar and acidity, and watch the weather forecast closely, because a few days of rain at the wrong moment can change a vintage. That is why we can't promise the exact days in advance. If seeing the picking matters most to you, the second half of September gives you the best chance.

What does harvest look like on a working estate?

The first thing you notice is the smell. Fermenting grape juice has a warm, yeasty richness that settles over the estate during harvest and drifts into the farmhouse in the evenings, and you smell it before you see anything.

Then there is the pace. Picking teams move through the rows from early morning, tractors cross the estate through the day, and the cellar close to the farmhouse fills with freshly picked fruit. Our wine is around 90% Merlot, with 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon, so the Merlot parcels set the rhythm of the whole harvest. Decisions are made day by day, based on the weather, the fruit and how the fermentation tanks are behaving.

For anyone who has ever wondered why one Bordeaux vintage tastes so different from the next, watching a harvest unfold explains it better than any book. We saw exactly that when we opened sixty consecutive vintages of our own wine side by side, which we wrote about in what sixty vintages taught us about the best Bordeaux years.

Can guests help with the harvest?

Sometimes. Harvest is real work on a working farm, with machinery moving around, so we can't promise a spot in the rows, but if you stay in September there is a chance you will end up lending a hand. Mostly you are welcome to watch, ask questions and see each stage, because the people making the wine are the same people who welcome you to the estate.

What is it like to stay in the farmhouse during harvest?

The farmhouse is an 18th century stone building with four double bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen and a long dining table, sleeping up to ten adults. The thick walls keep it cool on warm harvest days, and when the evenings turn chilly at the end of September, the fireplace in the living room earns its place.

Every stay includes a tasting in our cellar with Mark and Sandra, and at harvest that tasting comes with the cellar in full swing around you. Because harvest is our busiest time, the minimum stay is five nights, as it is in July and August. That works in your favour, because five nights is long enough to see more than one stage of the harvest and to settle into the rhythm of the estate rather than passing through.

Who does a harvest stay suit?

A harvest stay suits groups of friends and families of adults who are curious about how wine is made and happy with early starts and the sound of tractors. It is lively rather than peaceful. If you would rather have the vineyard quiet and green, spring is the better season, and our guide to where to stay in the Bordeaux wine region covers the rest of the year.

A few practical points are worth knowing. You will need a car, because the farmhouse is rural. Because we are a working estate with heavy machinery and cattle, we don't accept guests under 17. And other châteaux are busy at harvest too, so book any visits to the Bordeaux wine châteaux you want to see well ahead, and expect some smaller estates to say no until the grapes are in.

Where does Château Méaume fit?

If you want to see a Bordeaux harvest from the inside, the farmhouse puts you there: the whole house to yourselves on our vineyard, with the cellar a short walk away and Pomerol and Saint-Émilion 15 and 25 minutes up the road. The details and dates are on the page for our farmhouse on the vineyard. If you can't make September, you can still taste what each harvest becomes in our Right Bank Bordeaux wines.

Quick answers

When is harvest in Bordeaux? Usually from mid-September into October. Merlot is picked before Cabernet Sauvignon, and the exact dates depend on the weather each year.

Is September a good time to visit Bordeaux? Yes, if you want to see the harvest. It is the busiest month in the vineyards, so book accommodation and château visits early.

Can you help with the grape harvest in Bordeaux? Sometimes, at small estates where guests stay on the vineyard, but it depends on the day and is never guaranteed.

How long should a harvest stay be? Five nights or more, which is our minimum at harvest and long enough to see several stages of the work.

Is a harvest holiday worth planning around?

If wine is the reason you come to Bordeaux, yes. For a few weeks a year you can see the whole year's work come together in the same rows and the same cellar that the wine in your glass came from. Book early, keep the dates loose around mid to late September, and stay long enough to see more than one day of it.

If you would like to spend harvest among our vines, the farmhouse sits in the middle of the estate and every stay includes a session in our cellar, usually with something older if Mark has it open. See the farmhouse and check dates.