Looking at the list of the old ‘ban des vendanges‘ – and it goes ‘very old’ – the list goes back to 1370! The (prior) earliest harvest that I can find is the vintage 1556; the allowed starting date that year was the 16^th August. Vintage 2003 was a much lazier 19^th August! In the data there are 2 dates for the ban – one for Beaune, one for Dijon. I’ve taken the one for Beaune:

Here’s a quick look at the list of ‘August vintages’ as it currently stands:

Taken from records* starting from the year 1370:
(Year – date)
2020 – 14.8
1556 – 16.8
2003 – 19.8
2018 – 20.8
1559 – 24.8
2017 – 25.8
2015 – 26.8
1603 – 27.8
2011 – 27.8
1434 – 28.8
1684 – 28.8
1420 – 29.8
1473 – 29.8
1719 – 29.8
2007 – 29.8
1540 – 30.8
1673 – 30.8
1686 – 30.8
1706 – 31.8
*2007 was the last vintage where a ban des vendanges was called, and it was a largely symbolic 13 August – long before anyone picked, hence, I have not used that date for my list. Note these are the dates that grapes were picked in the Côte de Beaune, and to make still wines…