Private tasting: discovering Alsatian wines
Ninety minutes of tasting in central Strasbourg, your party only, meeting at the palace gates. No vineyard and no minivan, just the wine and a guide.
From $146 per person
Check AvailabilityAlsace Wine Route Weather by Month
This vineyard sits in the rain shadow of the Vosges and it shows in the figures: 595 mm of rain a year and more than 1,880 hours of sun. Match your Alsace Wine tour to the month with the numbers below.
What the weather does to a wine day here
A wine day is half indoors and half outside. The cellar does not care about the forecast, and neither does a minibus. What the weather costs you is the walk between the vines, the half hour in a village square and, on one vehicle, the roof.
Rain here is concentrated rather than constant. May, June, July and August bring the most of it, in thundery showers, while the winter months are the driest on the sheet. Heat is the bigger planning problem: seven or eight days a month pass 30 °C in July and August, and there is no shade between the rows.
The figures below are Météo-France's 1991-2020 normals for Colmar-Meyenheim, the station out on the vineyard plain south of Colmar. They are averages rather than a forecast, so check yours the week before you travel. For comparison, Strasbourg-Entzheim records 636 mm a year and 1747 hours of sun, so the southern half of the route is both drier and sunnier.
Alsace Wine Route month by month
Alsace Wine Route weather in January
Highs average 5.6 °C and lows -0.8 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 33 mm of rain falls on 7 days, with 71 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 17 nights. Frost most nights, so take a proper coat for the village lanes. What you taste in the cellar is unchanged.
Alsace Wine Route weather in February
Highs average 7.6 °C and lows -0.7 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 31 mm of rain falls on 7 days, with 99 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 15 nights. The driest month of the year here, and the quietest. You will see pruning under way on the slope.
Alsace Wine Route weather in March
Highs average 12.6 °C and lows 1.9 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 34 mm of rain falls on 8 days, with 156 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 11 nights. The vineyard starts to move and the light comes back. Pack layers rather than a winter coat.
Alsace Wine Route weather in April
Highs average 17.1 °C and lows 5.1 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 43 mm of rain falls on 8 days, with 189 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 3 nights. Budburst, and the open-top bus starts running on the 3rd. Mornings are still cold in an open vehicle.
Alsace Wine Route weather in May
Highs average 21.0 °C and lows 9.4 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 70 mm of rain falls on 11 days, with 210 hours of sun. About 1 day pass 30 °C. The wettest month on the plain, and showers are the thundery kind. Take a waterproof for the vine walk.
Alsace Wine Route weather in June
Highs average 24.7 °C and lows 12.9 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 66 mm of rain falls on 9 days, with 234 hours of sun. About 4 days pass 30 °C. Long evenings and a green slope, so you get a village to yourself after six. The first hot days arrive.
Alsace Wine Route weather in July
Highs average 26.7 °C and lows 14.4 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 63 mm of rain falls on 9 days, with 251 hours of sun. About 7 days pass 30 °C. The hottest and sunniest month. Ask for a morning departure and carry water.
Alsace Wine Route weather in August
Highs average 26.5 °C and lows 14.0 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 61 mm of rain falls on 9 days, with 233 hours of sun. About 7 days pass 30 °C. As hot as July, with French holiday traffic on the route. You will find no shade at all between the rows.
Alsace Wine Route weather in September
Highs average 22.0 °C and lows 10.2 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 51 mm of rain falls on 8 days, with 181 hours of sun. About 1 day pass 30 °C. Harvest month, and the most comfortable of the warm ones. Pickers and tractors share the lanes with you.
Alsace Wine Route weather in October
Highs average 16.3 °C and lows 6.7 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 57 mm of rain falls on 9 days, with 122 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 2 nights. The colour month, and wetter than September. Wear boots rather than trainers if your day walks the vineyard paths.
Alsace Wine Route weather in November
Highs average 9.8 °C and lows 2.7 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 44 mm of rain falls on 8 days, with 72 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 8 nights. Dull, damp and quiet until the markets open. The castle drops to winter hours.
Alsace Wine Route weather in December
Highs average 6.3 °C and lows 0.2 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim. About 43 mm of rain falls on 8 days, with 63 hours of sun. Frost comes on about 15 nights. The darkest month, and cold enough that you will want gloves at a market. Frost most nights again.
The seasons, and which one you want
| Season | Average high | Rain | Sunshine | In the vines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring: March–May | 16.9 °C | 147 mm | 556 h | Buds, then leaves, then flower |
| Summer: June–August | 26.0 °C | 190 mm | 718 h | The grapes set and ripen |
| Autumn: September–November | 16.0 °C | 152 mm | 375 h | Harvest, then gold, then bare wood |
| Winter: December–February | 6.5 °C | 107 mm | 233 h | Pruning on an empty slope |
If you can choose, take September. Highs average 22 °C, rain drops to about 51 mm, you get 181 hours of sun, and the harvest is happening around you. May and June are the green alternative, with more rain and longer evenings.
Summer is the sunniest and the hottest, and July alone brings 251 hours of sun. It is also the month when a vine walk at two in the afternoon stops being fun. Winter is dry but cold: frost comes on about seventeen nights in January, and the castle runs shorter hours from November.
Rather be driven than rained on?
Every shared day here travels in a covered vehicle, and the cellars are indoors whatever the sky is doing.
Rain or shine: what the operators actually promise
Several listings say in as many words that the tour runs rain or shine, among them the Ophorus full day, the Colmar walking tour, the castle day from Colmar and the villages day trip from Strasbourg. That is a promise to run, not a promise of shelter.
Two operators go further. The minibus day from Strasbourg and the guided vineyard walk near Colmar both hand out umbrellas when it rains, and on the walk the loan is free. One Ophorus day carries a bad-weather cancellation clause the others do not, so read your confirmation if the forecast is poor.
The open roof, and what it means in April
Two vehicles here are affected by the sky rather than sheltered from it. The hop-on convertible bus runs with the roof back, and it runs a season — 3 April to 11 October — which is itself a weather decision. In early April you will want a coat on the top deck even when the plain is mild.
The RHINE VALLEY coaches also open their roof, and switch to air conditioning when the day is against it. If you feel the cold, take the minibus days instead: every one of them travels in a closed, air-conditioned vehicle.
What to wear in the vineyard
Comfortable shoes with grip, because the vineyard tracks are gravel and the village lanes are cobbled. Several listings ask for exactly that, and one asks for a hat. A layer you can take off matters more than a heavy coat between April and October.
For the castle, add something warmer than the plain suggests: it stands well above the vineyard and the ramparts are exposed. In December, gloves. Seasons, market dates and what is open when are on when to visit the wine route.
Weather questions
What is the weather like in Alsace in September?
Warm and fairly dry. Highs average 22.0 °C and lows 10.2 °C at Colmar-Meyenheim, with about 51 mm of rain on 8 days and 181 hours of sun. It is the most comfortable of the warm months, which is why harvest weekends fill up.
Which is the wettest month on the Alsace plain?
May, with about 70 mm, and the rain arrives as thundery showers rather than all day. February is the driest at 31 mm. The year comes to 595 mm in total, which is dry for France.
How hot does the Alsace vineyard get?
July and August average highs of 26 °C to 27 °C, and about seven days a month pass 30 °C. The record at Colmar-Meyenheim is 40.9 °C, set on 13 August 2003. Ask for a morning departure in a heatwave.
Do tours run in the rain?
Several listings say the tour runs rain or shine. One Ophorus day carries a bad-weather cancellation clause the others do not, and one operator hands out umbrellas.
Where these facts come from
Every temperature, rainfall, sunshine and frost figure is from Météo-France's 1991-2020 climate sheet for Colmar-Meyenheim, the station on the vineyard plain 12 km south of Colmar, with the Strasbourg-Entzheim sheet used only for the comparison. What each operator promises about rain, umbrellas and the open roof comes from that tour's own listing.
Tours to match the forecast
Medieval Villages and Wine Tasting from Strasbourg
A long day by minibus from the Place de l'Étoile coach station, with real time on the ground in Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim, and a tasting in the fare.
From $146 per person
Check Availability
The true heart of Alsace in Riquewihr with optional wine tasting
Two hours walking Riquewihr with a local guide, as long or as short as you ask. The wine tasting is an optional extra here, not part of the price.
From $36 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: pick a month on when to visit, check the walking on the visitor guide, or compare every tour on Alsace Wine Tours.