Winegrowers in Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy expect to see the earliest grape harvest in history this year, due to high temperatures and record hours of sunlight.

This year, which also saw the driest May on record, Philippe Dhalluin of Chateau Mouton Rothschild expects to start picking at the very beginning of September, while Anne-Claude Leflaive of Domaine Leflaive in Burgundy says she will begin the harvest on August 25th, Decanter reports.

"We have not seen such an advance in the vineyard since 1893," she told the publication.

Jean-Claude Berrouet, winemaker at Petrus, added: "We have to go back to some anecdotal vintage, the year of the comet, to make a comparison."

The winemakers stressed that they only expect the harvest to be particularly early, and that it was still too early to talk about about the quality of the 2011 vintage.

Recently, Financial Times wine expert Jancis Robinson speculated that climate change may have long-term implications for Bordeaux prices.