Ban de Vendange

Definition:

The official French “green light” that says, “Alright folks, pick those grapes!” It’s the harvest starter pistol, minus the track suits and Gatorade.

Why it Matters:

In the cocktail and bartending world, “Ban de Vendange” is like the backstage pass that kicks off the season for your raw ingredients. Without grape harvest, you don’t get the wine… and without wine, a lot of our favorite bar staples (vermouth, sherry, port, sparkling wine) wouldn’t exist. You’d be stuck sipping on vodka sodas and pretending it’s exciting.

Harvest season also sets the tone for the entire year of cocktail creativity. The freshness of the grapes, the timing of the pick, and even the weather leading up to harvest can ripple through everything from the structure of your Cabernet to the bite of your vermouth in a Negroni. In other words, when France says “pick,” bartenders everywhere should perk up—because that’s when the building blocks of flavor officially roll in.