The « ban of the harvest » is the administrative authorization to begin the grape harvest. The exact term is « lifting the ban on the harvest, » meaning lifting the prohibition on starting to pick the grapes.
Even in Rome, the date of the harvest was not left to the discretion of the winemaker. It was based on a public deliberation in the interest of the community.
The right of ban, of Germanic origin, is mentioned with the emergence of the Frankish Kingdoms: Romanized as bannus, it developed throughout the Middle Ages, becoming an integral part of the feudal system. It allowed any lord, noble or ecclesiastical, to make public proclamations establishing regulations over the extent of their domain, instituting obligations, such as the use of their own press (the pressoir banal), or prohibitions. The ban on the harvest was one of these rules, forbidding the harvest without the lord’s consent, who collected dues, ensured the quality of the grapes, and prevented any poaching. Moreover, with the right of banvin, the lord reserved the right to sell their wine first.
During the French Revolution, the Constituent Assembly passed a law in 1794 abolishing all bans: each property owner would be free to harvest whatever they wished, at a time of their choosing, provided they did not cause any damage to neighboring property owners. However, each year a regulation could be established by the municipal council. This regulatory power of the municipal council applied to all uncultivated vineyards. It was abolished in 1885, but most municipal councils continued to set the start date for the harvest. It was specified that the regulation must set the day before which it was forbidden to glean in the vineyards. Gleaners could not enter before sunrise or after sunset and must wait for the harvest to be completed. Gleaning could never take place in enclosed vineyards.
By the end of the 19th century, transportation ease allowed for fraud concerning the origins of wines. The Bordeaux and Burgundy merchants did not hesitate to source supplies from Tain l’Ermitage or Châteauneuf-du-Pape, enhancing the body and color of some lesser vintages! To combat these frauds, the law of August 1, 1905, established initial protection for appellations of origin. Insufficient, it was replaced by the decree-law of July 30, 1935, which created the AOCs and defined production criteria under the control of the INAO. The ban on the harvest was reestablished by the laws of 1940 and 1946. This revival was more folkloric than technical, with decisions resting with the administrative authorities.
Today in France, as the harvest approaches, representatives from the defense and management syndicate of an appellation meet with INAO agents and a representative from the prefecture. They decide, based on vintage criteria, on a start date. In principle, the harvest occurs between 100 and 110 days after flowering. Subsequently, a prefectural order sets the official date for the first day of the harvest, which stretches from south to north, from mid-August to early October.
