When to visit Loire Valley: harvest, en primeur and the calendar that shapes a cellar visit.

Spring

  • Vouvray sec new vintage release, March to May (April): Vouvray sec from the previous year's vintage is typically bottled and released between March and May. Producers including Domaine Huet, Francois Pinon, Champalou and Domaine Vincent Careme pour the new dry Chenin Blanc at their cellars, alongside library-release demi-sec and moelleux from older vintages. Vouvray sec is the most readily released of the appellation's three sweetness levels; demi-sec is held longer, and moelleux from a sweet vintage may not appear for two or three years. What to taste: ['Vouvray sec new vintage', 'Vouvray demi-sec, previous vintage', 'Library-release Vouvray moelleux']
  • Sancerre spring cellar visits, April to May (April): Sancerre's main appellation tastings open up in April once the previous-vintage white has finished its lees ageing and been bottled. Henri Bourgeois, Domaine Vacheron, Pascal Jolivet and Henri Pelle pour the new vintage across April and May at their Chavignol, Sancerre and Bue cellars. Sancerre rouge from a vintage two years back is also released in this window. The Sancerre town hosts the Foire aux Vins de Sancerre on the Pentecost weekend (late May or early June), which marks the public launch of the new vintage. What to taste: ['Sancerre AOC blanc new vintage', 'Sancerre rouge Pinot Noir, two vintages back', 'Single-village Chavignol and Bue Sancerre']
  • Bud break and the spring frost risk, April (April): Bud break across the Loire occurs from late March into mid April, with Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc among the earlier-budding varieties. What to taste: ['Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume from a recent recovery vintage', 'Vouvray demi-sec to discuss frost effects with growers', 'Chinon rouge with growers who lost crop in 2016 or 2021']
  • Muscadet sur lie new vintage release, March to May (April): Muscadet sur lie from the previous October harvest must rest on its lees through one winter and be bottled before mid-year to use the sur lie designation. What to taste: ['Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur lie new vintage', 'Muscadet Cru Communaux Clisson and Gorges from two vintages back', 'Pet-Nat and Vin de France experimental cuvees']

Summer

  • Anjou Velo Vintage, June (June): Anjou Velo Vintage is a vintage-bicycle and wine festival staged in and around Saumur each June. Period costumes, vintage bikes (pre-1987 required for the main routes), routes through the Saumur tuffeau cellars and the Saumur-Champigny vineyards, and tastings of Saumur Brut sparkling and Cabernet Franc rouge at producer cellars. Estates including Bouvet-Ladubay open for the weekend with vintage-themed events. What to taste: ['Saumur Brut sparkling at Bouvet-Ladubay', 'Saumur-Champigny rouge at the Couly-Dutheil and Antoine Sanzay cellars', 'Saumur blanc Chenin Blanc']
  • Veraison across the Loire, August (August): Veraison, the colour change of ripening grapes, occurs across the Loire from early to mid August, beginning with Sauvignon Blanc in Sancerre and Touraine and continuing through Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. What to taste: ['Saumur Brut sparkling on summer terraces', 'Sancerre AOC blanc as a warm-weather pairing', 'Touraine Sauvignon at lunch in Loire chateaux']

Autumn

  • Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume harvest, September (September): Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume Sauvignon Blanc harvest typically runs from the first week of September through mid-month. Pinot Noir for Sancerre rouge follows within a few days. What to taste: ['Previous-vintage Sancerre AOC blanc', 'Sancerre Pinot Noir rouge', 'Pouilly-Fume from Didier Dagueneau or Domaine Tabordet']
  • Chenin Blanc late harvest for Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux, October to November (October): The botrytised sweet Chenin Blanc of Coteaux du Layon, Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru and Bonnezeaux is picked in successive selective passes (tries) through October and into mid November, depending on noble rot development. What to taste: ['Quarts de Chaume Grand Cru, recent vintages', 'Bonnezeaux from Domaine du Petit Val or Chateau de Fesles', 'Coteaux du Layon Premier Cru Chaume']

Winter

  • Salon des Vins de Loire, Angers, early February (February): The Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers is the Loire's anchor trade tasting of the year, gathering hundreds of producers from Pays Nantais to Pouilly-sur-Loire to pour the latest in-bottle vintage to the trade and press. What to taste: ['Latest in-bottle Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume', 'Touraine Sauvignon barrel samples', 'Vouvray sec and demi-sec from the new vintage']
  • Winter pruning across the Loire, January and February (January): The Loire's winter pruning runs from January into February, with growers walking the rows cutting back canes. The work is most visible in the steep Sancerre Kimmeridgian slopes and the gravel terraces of Chinon and Bourgueil. Cellars are quiet, tastings unhurried, and many growers welcome appointments at this time of year. The winter is also when many Vouvray and Saumur producers do their first racking of new-vintage Chenin Blanc lots into older oak for the secondary stage of ageing. What to taste: ['Library-release Vouvray demi-sec and moelleux', 'Older-vintage Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume from grower cellars', 'Pre-release Muscadet sur lie tank samples']
  • Saint-Vincent grower festivals across the Loire, late January (January): Like the Cote d'Or, the Loire celebrates Saint Vincent, the patron saint of vine growers, on the last weekend of January. The Loire's Saint Vincent festivals are decentralised by village rather than the rotating Burgundian Tournante: Vouvray, Sancerre, Chinon, Saumur and many smaller villages each host a procession of the saint's banner, a mass in the parish church and a public tasting of the new vintage in the village hall or under the village market hall. Vouvray's Saint Vincent fete is particularly atmospheric, with the Chenin Blanc growers' brotherhood pouring older library wines alongside the new vintage. What to taste: ['Vouvray sec, demi-sec and moelleux from new and library vintages', 'Saumur Brut sparkling at village fetes', 'Chinon rouge from the previous harvest in tank']

Year round

  • Muscadet harvest, late August to mid September: Muscadet's Melon de Bourgogne is an early-ripening variety. Picking typically starts in late August and runs through mid September, ahead of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc elsewhere in the Loire.

Book wine experiences in Loire Valley

Wine tastings and winery visits in Loire Valley (22) · Wine tours and day trips in Loire Valley (35) · Wine tours by bike in Loire Valley (5)

See all 281 bookable experiences in Loire Valley

Seasonal in Loire Valley, FAQ

When is the best time to visit Loire Valley for wine?

Peak wine-travel season in Loire Valley is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.

Do I need an appointment to taste at Loire Valley estates?

classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.

What hours do Loire Valley cellars and tasting rooms keep?

most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.

How does tipping work at Loire Valley tastings?

tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.

What is the one wine to try in Loire Valley?

Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Loire Valley rewards trust.

← Back to Loire Valley wine guide