If you’re in France and love wine what could be better than attending one of Paris’ Wine Festivals? Regardless if you’re here for an extended stay or a weekend, the city’s wine festivals are great fun. There are a few really awesome events across the year and our guide has the low-down on the best festivals. Sounds good? Read on to discover our favourite wine festivals in Paris.
From Burgundy to Bordeaux, France has an incredibly rich wine history and culture. People in France are passionate about their wine and extremely proud of their history. When visiting Paris you can visit an incredible amount of wine shops and even bring back special bottles home! There are also of course wine bars where you can taste some of the best French wine. But if you like the idea of meeting the vignerons (wine makers) and sampling different wines from different regions then wine festivals are a great day out. Note that these festivals are generally held outside of the Summer months.
Wine Festival of Montmartre
The Wine Festival of Montmartre (Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre) is a yearly wine festival which takes place around the Sacre-Cœur in Montmartre. Incredibly fun, it’s my favourite wine festival in the city!
Historically the event started to celebrate the famous Vineyard of Montmartre (click to find out more). In the 12th century, the nuns from the Abbey of Montmartre planted the first vines to start their own wine production. At the start of the 20th century these wines had completely disappeared but were replanted in 1933. A year later, in 1934, was the first harvest and with it, a festival to celebrate. This was the start of the yearly ‘Fête de Vendange’.
The festival nowadays takes place over half a week with the Friday, Saturday and Sunday being the main ‘drinking’ days (or the ‘Parcours du Goût’ in French). The first few days include the ‘grand parade’ with a different theme each year and visits to the Montmartre vineyard.
During the weekend wine, champagne, beer and spirit makers are invited to set-up stands around the Sacre-Cœur. It’s free to visit but note that it can get very busy on Saturdays and you may need to wait to enter. It is incredibly fun hopping between stands and tasting some great wine. As you’ll inevitably get rather hungry after all the wine tasting, there are also some great food stands.
What to know before you visit
- Avoid Saturdays unless you go early
- It’s not child friendly
Where?: Montmartre, around the Sacre-Cœur
Dates: 9-13th October 2024
Cost: Free
Salon des Vignerons Indépendants
The next Salon des Vignerons Indépendants festival is taking place on between the 30th November and 3rd December 2023.
The Independent Winemaker festival is held yearly in Paris and in other cities across France. Taking place at the huge Parc des Expositions centre at the Porte de Versailles in the south of Paris, there are about 500 independent winemakers present over the 4 day festival. You won’t find the big, famous Maisons here, it’s all about the small vineyards.
It’s quite simply epic – there are winemakers from across the famous winemaking regions of France. In 2023 there are over 150 winemakers from Bordeaux and over 100 from Burgundy. Their stands sell wine by the glass, bottle and case and it’s an awesome opportunity to try wines from different regions and from unique, forgotten grape varieties. Prices can be on the cheaper side especially if you buy bottles to share in a group. For natural wine lovers, there are also some fantastic vivant wine makers attending as well!
What to know before you visit
- Avoid Saturdays unless you go early but prepared to queue at stands from mid afternoon onwards
Where?: 1 Pl. de la Prte de Versailles, 75015
Dates: 30th November – 3rd December 2023
Cost: Free
Salon International de l´Agriculture
The next Salon International de l´Agriculture festival is taking place on between the 24th February and 3rd March 2024.
The yearly Salon International de l´Agriculture is an epic festival of food, drink, animals and more! Whilst not strictly a wine festival, I’ve included it as one of the biggest halls (it’s seriously big) is filled with winemakers from across France. The show takes place, like with the Independant Winemaker show, at the Parc des Expositions in the south of the city.
The festival lasts for a week and I’d recommend if possible visiting during the week as the main ‘France’ focused hall can get very, very busy during the weekends. Aside from the wine, there’s an incredible array of food (snails, oysters, burgers, beef bourguignon etc) on offer and some great animal shows.
What to know before you visit
- Avoid Saturdays unless you go early but prepared to queue at stands from mid afternoon onwards
- Child friendly outside of the ‘France’ hall
Where?: 1 Pl. de la Prte de Versailles, 75015
Dates: 24th February – 3rd March 2024
Cost: €16 for adults, €9 for children between 6 and 12 years old, free for children younger than 6 years old
Tickets: https://www.salon-agriculture.com/Infos-pratiques/Billetterie-en-ligne
Foire aux Fromages et aux Vins d’Antony
2023’s Foire aux Fromages et aux Vins d’Antony has already taken place on the 8th September 2023. The next edition has not been announced yet.
Finally there’s a great cheese and wine festival outside of Paris in the small sleepy town of Antony. Accessible using the RER train system on line B, it takes around 30 minutes to get to from central Paris. It’s the smallest wine festival in this list and certainly the least touristy. With over 140 stands offering awesome wine and cheese from across France, it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re around Paris during September. Note that you’ll need to speak a bit of French to get by given that it’s very much not known by tourists.
What to know before you visit
- Usually takes place in September
- It takes place outside, on the streets
Where?: Antony, 92160
Dates: TBA
Cost: Free
