6 early ripening grapes you need to try

September can be an awkward month for choosing wine. There are still warm afternoons that call for something fresh and chilled, but the evenings are getting cooler and the food starts to change.

Early ripening grapes give us some particularly good wines for this point in the year. They include fresh whites such as Pinot Gris and Riesling, alongside Gamay and Pinot Noir for those evenings when you are ready to return to red.

There is a reason these varieties ripen early. In cooler regions such as England, Alsace and Burgundy, growers have a shorter and less predictable growing season. Picking earlier can help preserve acidity and reduce some of the risks that come with leaving fruit on the vine into autumn.

Here are six early ripening grapes worth exploring this autumn, and a wine to try for each one.

What are early ripening grapes?

When growers talk about early ripening grapes, they mean varieties that reach physiological and sugar ripeness relatively early in the harvest season. The exact picking date varies enormously with region, vineyard site and the weather in a particular year, so “early” is best understood in relation to other varieties growing under similar conditions rather than as a fixed date on the calendar.

Ripening time matters because grapes need enough warmth and sunlight to accumulate sugar and develop flavour while retaining the acidity that gives wine freshness. In a cool climate, a late-ripening variety can face a race against shortening days, falling temperatures and autumn rain. Earlier varieties have a better chance of reaching maturity before conditions deteriorate.

Gamay

Gamay is the star of Beaujolais and one of the most useful reds for early autumn. It tends to be bright, juicy and lower in tannin than many fuller-bodied reds, so it still works on milder days but feels right as evenings begin to cool.

Among early ripening grapes, Gamay has an obvious advantage in the relatively cool hills of Beaujolais: it can achieve ripe fruit while retaining the lively acidity that is so important to the region’s style. Site still matters enormously, with altitude, exposure and the granitic soils of the northern crus all influencing how the fruit develops.

Wine to try: Famille Descombe “Granite” Beaujolais-Villages

Famille Descombe "Granite" Beaujolais-Villages 2022

£15.50

Famille Descombe “Granite” is a bright, juicy Beaujolais-Villages made from Gamay. Red and black berry fruit, fresh acidity and fine tannins make this a straightforward,...… read more

Pinot Gris

Sharing its genetic origins with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris also thrives in cooler climates and tends to ripen relatively early in the growing season. It often gives wines with pear, peach and floral notes, alongside the freshness that makes it a useful choice when summer is fading but you are not ready for richer whites.

Alsace is a particularly good place to see what Pinot Gris can do. The region combines a relatively cool northerly location with dry conditions and plenty of sunshine, allowing the grape to ripen while developing considerably more texture than the lightest examples of Pinot Grigio.

Wine to try: Hubert Reyser Pinot Gris “Les Pierres Chaudes”

Hubert Reyser Pinot Gris “Les Pierres Chaudes” 2023, Alsace

£17.50

Les Pierres Chaudes is an organic Pinot Gris from Domaine Hubert Reyser in Alsace. Lionel Reyser is the third generation of his family to make...… read more

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a versatile grape that can adapt to a wide range of climates. Picked early in regions such as Burgundy, Champagne, England and Tasmania, it can produce fresh, mineral-driven wines with enough weight to suit the richer food we start cooking as autumn arrives.

Its adaptability explains why Chardonnay appears in vineyards across the world, but its relatively early ripening is especially valuable at the cooler end of that range. Growers can achieve useful flavour development without necessarily waiting deep into autumn, while harvest timing gives winemakers considerable control over the balance between acidity, ripeness and richness.

Wine to try: Famille Gueguen Côtes Salines

Famille Gueguen, Côtes Salines 2023, Burgundy

£18.50

Céline and Frédéric Gueguen both come from winemaking families (Céline is the daughter of Jean-Marc Brocard) and established their 36 hectare estate in 2013. Their...… read more

Riesling

Riesling is known for retaining high acidity even as it ripens. That freshness makes it especially useful at this time of year: dry examples can work with lighter dishes on warmer days, while more textured styles sit comfortably with spiced food, roast pork and richer autumn suppers.

Riesling is not always the very first grape into the winery, and its harvest can be deliberately extended when growers want riper or sweeter styles. It nevertheless belongs in a discussion of grapes suited to cooler growing regions because of its ability to achieve flavour while retaining remarkable acidity. That combination is one reason it performs so well from Germany and Alsace to cooler sites in Australia.

Wine to try: Smalltown Vineyards Rag and Bone Riesling

Smalltown Vineyards "Rag & Bone" Riesling 2020, Eden Valley

£14.85

A precise, high-acid Riesling from Eden Valley. Built around lime, citrus and a clear mineral edge, with a clean, focused structure that carries through to...… read more

Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir is one of the most famous early ripening grapes. Its lighter body and bright red-fruit character make it an easy red to return to after summer, especially if you still want freshness rather than something heavy.

Pinot Noir Grapes

The most reputed region for Pinot Noir is Burgundy, where it thrives in a cool continental climate. Its early ripening is useful there because the grape can reach maturity before the weather becomes too unreliable, although its thin skins and tightly packed bunches can make it sensitive to difficult conditions in the vineyard.

In recent years, English examples from counties such as Essex and Devon have also shown how well the variety can perform in a cooler growing season. Other regions to explore include Willamette Valley in Oregon and Central Otago in New Zealand, which often produces a more vibrant, fruit-forward style.

Wine to try: Lyme Bay Pinot Noir

Lyme Bay Pinot Noir 2024, Devon

£30.50

Lyme Bay Pinot Noir 2024 is sourced from a selection of leading Essex vineyards close to the River Crouch, one of the few parts of...… read more

Müller-Thurgau

A crossing created by Swiss botanist Hermann Müller from Riesling and Madeleine Royale, Müller-Thurgau ripens earlier than Riesling and can achieve full maturity in cooler climates or regions with shorter growing seasons. It was created with early ripening very much among its practical attractions, which helped it become widely planted in northern European vineyards during the twentieth century.

Its reputation suffered when high yields were prioritised over quality, but lower yields and more thoughtful winemaking can show a much more interesting side to the grape. It is a useful reminder that some early ripening grapes have value not simply because they are easy to grow, but because the right site and winemaker can turn that practical advantage into distinctive wine.

Wine to try: Blackbook Winery Mix Up Vol IV

Blackbook Winery The Mix-Up Volume IV 2021, London

£22.50

A new wine and new blend for 2021, and like previous iterations very different from its siblings . This white blend was made from two...… read more

Why do early ripening grapes suit cooler climates?

Many of the world’s classic cool-climate regions are associated with varieties that can ripen within a relatively short growing season. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are central to Burgundy and Champagne, while Riesling and Pinot Gris are important in places such as Alsace. England’s increasingly serious still-wine scene has also shown the value of varieties capable of reaching useful levels of ripeness without needing a long, hot autumn.

There is a trade-off. Warm weather can push an early variety towards higher sugar levels quickly, while picking too soon can leave flavours underdeveloped. Growers are therefore looking for balance rather than simply the earliest possible harvest. The attraction of early ripening grapes is that they can offer more flexibility when the end of the growing season is uncertain.

That does not mean early ripening grapes are only useful in cool countries. Growers in warmer regions can use altitude, aspect and earlier harvesting to retain freshness, while the same grape may behave quite differently from one vineyard to another. Ripening time is one part of a much bigger picture that includes soil, climate, vine age, yields and the decisions made in the vineyard.

Why try early ripening grapes in autumn?

These wines make sense now because they sit neatly between seasons. The whites keep enough freshness for brighter September days, while Gamay and Pinot Noir offer a gentler return to red as the evenings cool. There is also a pleasing connection between what is happening in the vineyard and what we want to drink: in many northern vineyards, September is precisely when picking begins and the new vintage starts its journey into the cellar.

Early ripening grapes are not a single style of wine. They range from aromatic whites to fine-boned reds and can be grown in very different climates. What links them is their ability to reach maturity comparatively early, an attribute that has helped shape some of the world’s best-known cool-climate wine regions. If you are changing what you cook and drink as autumn arrives, these six grapes are a good place to start.