A champagne day here is half underground and half in the vines. The cellars stay cold all year, but the season decides what you see outside and which houses open. Before you book your Epernay guided tours, pick your month here.
The cellars are the same in every month, at 10 to 12 °C. You go down in a warm layer in July and come up into the heat. Moët & Chandon asks every visitor to bring warm clothes.
The rest of the day is outdoors, and the weather decides how it goes:
The figures below are Météo-France's 1991–2020 averages for Mailly-CIVC, the Comité Champagne's vineyard station at 182 m on the Montagne de Reims, about 15 km north of Epernay. Epernay itself has no station that publishes them.
You can expect highs of 5.8 °C and lows of 1.2 °C. About 68 mm of rain falls, on 12 days. Expect frost on about 12 nights. The tourist office closes at 16:30. Moët & Chandon still lists visits every day.
You can expect highs of 6.9 °C and lows of 1.2 °C. About 56 mm of rain falls, on 10 days. Expect frost on about 11 nights. The cellars, at 10 to 12 °C, are warmer than the street. The office is shut on Sundays.
You can expect highs of 11.2 °C and lows of 3.6 °C. About 52 mm of rain falls, on 10 days. Expect frost on about 6 nights. The museum keeps its winter hours until 31 March. The office now closes at 17:30.
You can expect highs of 15.2 °C and lows of 6.1 °C. About 46 mm of rain falls, on 9 days. Expect frost on about 2 nights. The driest month. Mercier opens every day from 6 April, and the office adds Sundays.
You can expect highs of 19.0 °C and lows of 9.7 °C. About 61 mm of rain falls, on 10 days. About 4 days reach 25 °C. The office opens every day to 18:00. The Esprit de Champagne shuttle starts its season.
You can expect highs of 22.3 °C and lows of 12.5 °C. About 65 mm of rain falls, on 10 days. About 8 days reach 25 °C. Every house is on its longest calendar. Evenings on the avenue stay light.
You can expect highs of 24.8 °C and lows of 14.4 °C. About 64 mm of rain falls, on 8 days. About 14 days reach 25 °C. The warmest month. The avenue holds its Soirée Blanche on 14 July.
You can expect highs of 24.5 °C and lows of 14.1 °C. About 63 mm of rain falls, on 8 days. About 13 days reach 25 °C. Nearly as warm as July. In 2026 the harvest opened on 17 August in Epernay.
You can expect highs of 20.2 °C and lows of 11.1 °C. About 56 mm of rain falls, on 8 days. About 4 days reach 25 °C. Picking may still run in the villages. The Heritage Days fall on 19 and 20 September.
You can expect highs of 15.2 °C and lows of 8.4 °C. About 69 mm of rain falls, on 10 days. The museum's summer hours end on 31 October. It is the last month of the Esprit de Champagne shuttle.
You can expect highs of 9.5 °C and lows of 4.5 °C. About 70 mm of rain falls, on 11 days. Expect frost on about 4 nights. Mercier opens every day to 15 November, then Wednesday to Sunday.
You can expect highs of 6.4 °C and lows of 2.0 °C. About 86 mm of rain falls, on 13 days. Expect frost on about 10 nights. The wettest month. Habits de Lumière lights the avenue on 11 to 13 December.
If you can choose, choose late spring or September. May and June are mild, every house is open and the vines are green. September is mild too, with the picking sometimes still running.
| Season | Average high | Rain | Frost nights | What is open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring: March–May | 15.1 °C | 159 mm | 7 | Mercier every day from 6 April; the shuttle from May |
| Summer: June–August | 23.9 °C | 192 mm | 0 | Every house on its longest calendar; the harvest opened in August |
| Autumn: September–November | 15.0 °C | 194 mm | 5 | Mercier every day to 15 November |
| Winter: December–February | 6.4 °C | 211 mm | 33 | Mercier shut from 30 December; the office closes at 16:30 |
Summer is the warmest, with about 14 days at 25 °C or more in July. Winter is cold, with frost on about 33 nights across the three months, and the houses open fewer days. The cellars feel the same in every season.
Check which houses open on your dates, then choose a day with growers, a big house, or a glass in the vines.
Moët & Chandon runs its visits from 9:30 to 17:00. Nicolas Feuillatte pauses from 12:30 to 14:00, and the tourist office closes from 13:00 to 14:00. So plan any walk-in questions around lunch.
The tours pick the hour for you. The e-bike day collects you at 9:35 am, before the heat on a July day. The afternoon with growers leaves the tourist office at noon, and the Bubble tour sells a 2:00 pm afternoon slot as well as its morning one.
In winter the light goes early, and the office closes at 16:30. So in December or January, a morning in the vines and an afternoon in a cellar is the better order.
Monthly figures are Météo-France's 1991–2020 averages for the Mailly-CIVC station. House calendars come from each house, the harvest dates from the Comité Champagne, and weather arrangements from each tour's own listing.
An hour in a family house's chalk cellar in Pierry, just south of town, with three champagnes at the end. You make your own way there; the lowest fare in Epernay.
From $19 per person
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Seven hours on foot along the avenue: three big houses with their own guides, seven glasses and a three-course lunch. Non-refundable once booked.
From $632 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: see the whole year on when to visit Epernay, plan the day on the visitor guide, or compare every tour on Epernay Tours.