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Paris Champagne Tours › Paris Champagne Trips at Harvest TimeUpdated 2026-09-18

Paris Champagne Trips at Harvest Time

Hours, prices and access verified by the Paris Champagne Tours team — last checked 2026-09-18.

A row of vines leading straight up a green slope to a line of trees

The harvest is when the vineyards are at their busiest, and many travellers want to see it. It is short, it moves with the weather, and nobody knows the dates until the grapes are nearly ripe. This guide explains when it falls, what a small group champagne tour from paris shows you in picking season, and what the rest of autumn offers.

When is the champagne harvest?

Picking begins about 90 days after the vines fully flower. The Comité Champagne gives September as the usual month, and says the date depends heavily on the weather.

In 2026 it came early. The Comité opened picking between 8 and 22 August across the appellation. Montgueux, in the Aube, started first on 8 August, and most Marne villages opened between 12 and 17 August. So "September" is a guide, not a promise.

Who sets the dates?

The Comité Champagne, the region's trade body of houses and growers. It samples ripeness across the vineyards and then sets an opening date for each village and each grape variety, so that grapes are picked at their best.

Its magazine at champagne.fr announced the 2024 dates on 7 September, the 2025 dates on 14 August, and the 2026 dates on 12 August. If you are planning a year ahead, you cannot know the dates; you can only aim for late August to September.

The 2026 dates in the villages the tours visit

These are the Comité's 2026 opening dates for picking in each village, by grape. A dash means no date was set for that grape there.

VillageWhere you meet itChardonnayPinot NoirMeunier
HautvillersThe abbey church stop on many days15 Aug15 Aug15 Aug
AÿPressoria, on BackTrip's day14 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
VerzenayThe minivan day's vineyard walk13 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
Rilly-la-MontagneFrance Intense's growers' day12 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
Villers-sous-ChâtillonChampagne Tasting Tours' day14 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
DameryFinding France's private day14 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
ChouillyNicolas Feuillatte, on Blue Fox's day14 Aug14 Aug14 Aug
ÉpernayThe Avenue de Champagne17 Aug17 Aug17 Aug
ReimsThe city's own vines15 Aug15 Aug15 Aug

Neighbouring villages opened days apart, and so did grapes in the same village. Rilly-la-Montagne opened its Chardonnay two days before its Pinot Noir.

What happens in the vines before the harvest?

Most of a grower's year is hand work in the rows: several hundred hours per hectare, by the Comité's count. It starts with winter pruning, on which the whole crop depends. Spring brings the work of guiding the growth, from debudding to lifting and trellising the shoots, and trimming runs through the summer until the harvest.

The vines are planted close, at about 8,000 per hectare. Each year the Comité's board of houses and growers sets the most that may be picked per hectare, within the European limit of 15,500 kg. In 2025 the yield was 9,000 kg per hectare.

What do you see from a tour?

People in the rows. Champagne is picked by hand: nearly 120,000 seasonal workers, in teams of about four per hectare. The law requires whole bunches to reach the press, which is why machines are not used.

If your date falls in picking, you see the teams on the slopes from the road. On a day with time in the vines, you see more. The minivan day spends two and a half hours in the Verzenay vineyards, and Withlocals spends three hours in the vineyards with a guide who owns vines.

What is the weather like at harvest time?

Warm, as a rule. At Météo-France's Mailly-Champagne station, in the vineyards between Reims and Épernay, August averages a high of 24.5 °C and about 13 days at 25 °C or more. September cools to an average high of 20.2 °C and a low of 11.1 °C. Each month brings about eight days of rain.

So dress for two climates: sun on the slopes and 10 to 12 °C in the cellars. A hat, water and a layer for underground cover both.

Should you plan a trip around the harvest?

Only if your dates can move. The opening dates come out in August or early September, and 2026 opened weeks before the usual September. Book a year ahead "for the harvest" and you are betting on the weather.

The better plan is to aim for late August to mid-September, keep your champagne day movable if you can, and pick a tour you can cancel free up to 24 hours before. That is every day here but one.

Can visitors pick grapes?

Not on these days. None of the tours compared here includes picking, and the work is done by paid teams on a tight schedule.

What you can do is stand in the vines. My Winedays holds a masterclass among the rows, weather permitting, and BackTrip ends its day with an hour's tasting in a Hautvillers vineyard.

Do the houses stay open?

Yes. Moët & Chandon lists daily hours from 9:30 to 17:00. Veuve Clicquot opens every day until 30 August, then Tuesday to Sunday from 1 September to 1 November. The cathedral towers take guided visits until 15 November.

In Épernay, the Musée du Vin de Champagne keeps its summer hours, 11:00 to 19:00, until 31 October, and closes on Tuesdays. So a harvest trip loses nothing in the cellars.

Is it busier, and does it cost more?

The fares here are starting prices, and your date sets the final one. Late August is still summer holiday season, so book the big houses and the private days ahead.

Growers are at their busiest in picking season, so book a growers' day early and ask the operator what the harvest changes on your date.

What happens after the harvest?

The grapes are pressed as whole bunches, and the juice ferments into still wine. Then comes the slow part: a second fermentation in the bottle makes the bubbles. A non-vintage champagne must age at least 15 months, and a vintage at least three years.

A vintage champagne is made only from that one year's harvest. Most champagne is a blend of years, so it carries no year on the label. BackTrip's day visits Pressoria in Aÿ, a museum of the pressing, if you want to see how it starts.

If you miss it: what autumn and spring offer

Autumn keeps the cellars open. Veuve Clicquot opens Wednesday to Sunday from 4 November 2026 to 3 January 2027. Épernay's Habits de Lumière festival runs on 11, 12 and 13 December 2026. The towers close from 16 November to 14 February.

Spring is when the vines wake. Veuve Clicquot reopened on 7 April in 2026 after its winter closure, and the Épernay museum's summer hours start on 1 April. For the months in between, see when to visit Champagne.

Which days suit harvest season?

Pick a day with time in the vines, not just in the cellars. The minivan day's Verzenay walk and the Withlocals day's three hours in the vineyards give you the most. My Winedays' masterclass and BackTrip's vineyard tasting put you among the rows.

For the growers themselves, Sparkling Tour's private day takes your party to three family estates from Reims and pours ten champagnes. Every private champagne tour from paris option is compared on one page.

Frequently asked questions

When is the champagne harvest?
Picking begins about 90 days after the vines fully flower, typically in September, but the weather moves it: in 2026 the Comité Champagne opened picking between 8 and 22 August, village by village and grape by grape. Every cluster is picked by hand.
When are the harvest dates announced?
The Comité Champagne sets an opening date for every village and grape from ripeness samples. Its magazine announced them on 7 September in 2024, 14 August in 2025 and 12 August in 2026.
Do champagne tours run during the harvest?
Yes. The houses keep their published hours through the harvest weeks, and the tour days are sold for those dates. What changes is what you see from the road and in the vines.
Can I pick grapes on a tour?
None of the days compared here includes picking. The harvest is skilled, paid work, done by hand by teams of about four per hectare, so watch it from the vines rather than expect to join in.
What if my trip misses the harvest?
Nothing in the cellars changes: they hold 10 to 12 °C all year, and the big houses keep visiting hours through the autumn. In December, Épernay holds its Habits de Lumière festival.
Are the houses open in January and February?
Not all of them. Veuve Clicquot's own site shows it closed for the winter from 28 December 2025 to 7 April 2026. Galaxytour's listings say Moët & Chandon also closes in January and February, though Moët's own page states no closure, so check your date.
What should I wear in the cellars?
Bring a layer: the chalk cellars stay at 10 to 12 °C all year, at 90 to 100% humidity. Wear flat shoes with grip, because you reach the cellars by stairs and the floors can be damp.
When should I book a harvest-season tour?
As soon as your dates are fixed. Late August and September are busy, and a private day sells one car per date. Every tour here but one lets you cancel free up to 24 hours before.

Where these facts come from

The harvest facts and the 2026 opening dates are the Comité Champagne's own; the opening hours are each house's and museum's.

Days with the most time in the vines

Next: choose a day with time among the rows, then check your date on Paris Champagne Tours.