Harvest 2026 – Burgundy is now in harvest mode

Burgundy is now in harvest mode, with estates like Domaine Leflaive, Domaine Bizot, and Domaine d’Eugénie harvesting.

This weekend will give a bit of the rain many have dreamed of to start the harvest. Sugar levels are very good, and in some cases the potential alcohol is exceeding the wanted level …

Domaine Leflaive is heading out in full force to harvest Le Montrachet. This is a strong sign that they clearly don’t think it will be beneficial to wait another week, when the sun can increase the alcohol level even further.

The harvest has already provided examples of what can happen if you wait too long in 2026 – and 15% in a Corton Charlemagne is not really desirable.

So full steam ahead from now … with Domaines like Chartron in Puligny-Montrachet already joining in.

Next days

Temperatures are taking a trip around the hopefully last Canicule – currently we were at 39 Celsius yesterday. Temperatures will drop on Monday, August 17th, to a still respectable 28-29 degrees Celsius.

Rain is expected Sunday 16th (thunderstorms), with showers on Monday the 17th. It seems like the rain this weekend has been toned down somewhat.

Let’s see what we will get … this is not looking promising!

---

With the current temperatures, the alcohol levels rise very quickly, and apparently a lot of growers have left the harvest too late. Some are struggling to get a team together to start the harvest already now …

According to some vignerons, they would have preferred to start the harvest already now, but it takes some days to get a team together in operational form.

You need to login as a Premium subscriber to read the rest of this article. If you are not a Premium Subscriber, use the subscribe function and sign-up.