Fire · Best for wine
Fruit days: the best days to drink wine
In the biodynamic calendar, a fruit day is any time the Moon stands in front of one of the three fire constellations: Aries, Leo or Sagittarius. Biodynamic growers use these days to tend fruiting crops and to harvest fruit, and wine lovers treat them as the best days to open a bottle.
Next fruit days
- Tue, Oct 6 6:53 AM → Thu 10:19 PMPaused Tue 7:20 PM – Wed 7:20 AM for the descending lunar nodelasts 2d 15h
- Fri, Oct 16 6:08 AM → Mon 1:46 AMlasts 2d 19h
- Sun, Oct 25 10:00 PM → Tue 2:53 PMlasts 1d 16h
- Mon, Nov 2 12:18 PM → Thu 4:36 AMPaused Mon 8:59 PM – Tue 8:59 AM for the descending lunar nodelasts 2d 16h
- Thu, Nov 12 1:39 PM → Sun 9:31 AMlasts 2d 19h
Times are in your time zone.
How wine tastes on a fruit day
On fruit days wines are said to taste their most generous: bright, ripe fruit, open aromatics and softer, rounder tannins. If you have a bottle you've been saving, a wine to show friends, or a tasting where you need to judge fairly, this is the window to pick.
What to open
- The special bottle you have been saving
- Fruit-forward reds: Pinot Noir, Grenache, Zinfandel, Merlot
- Any wine you are judging, comparing or buying by the case
Fruit days in the vineyard
Fruit days are favored for pruning and harvesting grapes, and for any work aimed at fruit quality. The idea comes from biodynamic farming, which links each of the four classical elements to one part of the plant: fire to fruit, air to flower, water to leaf and earth to root.
| Element | Constellations | Day type | For wine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Aries, Leo, Sagittarius | Fruit | Best for wine |
| Air | Gemini, Libra, Aquarius | Flower | Good for wine |
| Water | Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces | Leaf | Not ideal |
| Earth | Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn | Root | Poor for wine |
Because the constellations are different sizes, fruit days don't come in neat blocks. The Moon returns to the same element roughly every nine days. How the calendar is calculated.
Questions
Is today a fruit day?
See the live answer on the today page, or the upcoming dates above. Moonvine can alert you whenever a fruit day begins.
How long does a fruit day last?
Usually one to four days. The Moon crosses each constellation at about 13° a day, and the fire constellations vary in size: Aries is the smallest, Leo and Sagittarius are larger.
How many fruit days are there in a month?
Usually six to ten dates, in three or four separate stretches. The Moon passes through Aries, Leo and Sagittarius once each per 27.3-day orbit, so a calendar month can catch one of them twice.
Do wine shops really plan tastings around fruit days?
Some do. Retailers and critics have been reported to schedule press tastings on fruit and flower days and to avoid root days, on the reasoning that wines show better.
