By Elin McCoy, Bloomberg News

On Aug. 28 in Saint-Emilion, France, pickers fanned out into the vineyard at Château Troplong Mondot. It was the earliest harvest start in the estate’s history.

Record-breaking early picking was a key feature of harvest 2025. In Alsace, the date was Aug. 19; in Champagne, Aug. 20; for the white grapes in the Rhône Valley, mid-August, two weeks earlier than last year. In Germany’s Rheingau region, some grapes were picked at the end of August, three weeks earlier than the long-term average.

In most European wine spots, harvests were speedy too. At first-growth Château Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux, the first red grapes came in on Sept. 5, and picking wrapped up historically early, on Sept. 20.

It’s clear that rising temperatures and the extreme weather of cl

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