Tasting crowd in a winery (caveau) in Villers La Faye
Saturday, jan 28th 2006. I know it's strange, but we (B. and I) never went to a Saint Vincent Tournante, these colourful feasts that gather thousands of wine lovers every year in the middle of the harsh winter of Burgundy. Sounds like living in Paris and never visit the Eiffel tower (I don't either). This year, we braved the fiercely cold temperatures and decided to drop there at last and enjoy.
Traditionally, the "
Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin" meets for the occasion, along with the different "Saint Vincent societies", each carrying through long processions their St Vincent statue to celebrate and attend the mass . Every year, the Chevaliers welcome new vignerons/members in the Confrerie in a colourful ceremonial.
One of the vignerons being enthroned by the Chevaliers du TastevinSaint Vincent is the patron saint of winemakers and vignerons and is celebrated as such in Burgundy since the middle age. Around here, there is one Saint Vincent statue per village, and it is taken care of as a holy relic.
Each has its own style and character
and the Saint Vincent Tournante is the one occasion to see them all gathered, when they are shoulder-carried across the region to assist to the mass at the end of which the Chevaliers will introduce new members.
The events never take place in the same locations each year but the frame stays about the same. Processions, Chevaliers, mass...and good wine for the courageous crowd.
This year, 16 villages of the Hautes Cotes de Nuits were involved. There's a dedicated
website for the event, but it went off suddenly for an unknown reason (internet in France...) .
On this saturday 28th, the 80 St Vincent Societies left in processions from 9 of the villages, going through the other villages in the way, to assist to the mass
in 4 other villages. Sorry, we did not go to the mass, not because of some religious incompatibility, but because we dropped there late : The temperatures were pinchingly cold, the hills were snow-white and we had some sleep to recover... So we drove directly in mid-morning to Villers-la-Faye, one of the participating villages and one of the two places (with Nuits Saint Georges) where you could buy a pass : for 10 Euro, you got 10 tasting tickets, a nice stainless-steel tastevin with its red ribbon to hand around the neck, and free access to the frequent buses to commute from one village to the other (or to Nuits St Georges), which was very convenient and allowed revelers to leave their cars in the parking lots near the villages or in Nuits.
As we arrived, the processing St Vincent statues were just coming out of the church, along with the Chevaliers. The temperature was a painful minus 7°C but people were thrilled and excited of all the feast to come and/or had already drank some holy fuel to keep warm. I forgot to say that you could taste the wines at the different "caveaux" (wineries) , there was several of them in each village.
Pinot Noir's magic reflections...Officially, you had to hand a ticket to taste, but in fact for a ticket you could taste all the wine range of the winery, as long as they saw you had your tastevin and its red ribbon which showed you paid for the pass. For those who preferred the convenience
of a glass, it was possible to bring one or buy one (have you ever tried to really smell, taste and enjoy with a tastevin ??). B. bought one , but at 8 Euro the glass, I was stingy and decided that the tastevin woulb be OK.
We were impressed by all the preparation work done in all of the villages we saw : volunteers all day in the bitter cold to look over the crowd and prevent the cars from driving inside the villages or on the small roads, plenty of decorations all over the place, musicians and folkloric groups (including this Trompes de Chasse _hunting horn_ group on the left)...
Professor Cabrol at the mikeAnd we had the luck to hear and applaud wine's best ally (especially today) in France : Professor
Christian Cabrol, well known cardiologist who performed the first heart transplant in Europe in 1968 and who has always considered (and repeatedly said ) that the french paradox of better heart condition was because of the diet, and most important, the daily consumption of red wine (He even wrote a book titled "
wine and health"). His praise of wine looks at time like poetic lyricism : (for those who read french) "Le vin qui nous apporte en plus de son eau et de son alcool – le plus sain de nos euphorisants et tranquillisants – surtout ses phénols, ces mystérieux flavonoïdes, régulateur de nos graisses et de notre cholestérol sanguins. Le vin aussi utile qu’agréable, le vin que mes patrons, médecins des hôpitaux, prescrivaient sur ordonnance, aux jeunes filles pâles et chlorotiques d’autrefois. “Un verre de vin à chaque repas”, écrivaient-ils, prescription qu’il est impératif de suivre encore aujourd’hui. Et à votre bonne santé!"
If you ask me about the many wines we tasted, this picture of these free-running horses shot near one of the villages (Fussey) illustrates our mood best : Temperature was shockingly low and like these horses (there was 4 of them) who runned and played around us in a field to show their skills and the happiness of the moment, we also runned and jostled in the crowds to keep warm and enjoy the present, and the wine was part of the magic whirl of this winter day...
Hello hello,
I just visited your site, so much to read and see, It is so wonderful what you are doing. I am sorry I have dropped out and have not emailed more.
I hope you are well,
Rita
Posted by: rita | February 25, 2006 at 06:54 AM
Howdy!
Just reviewed your piece on St. Vincent feast! I'm the Chancellier of a wine group, Portland OR USA chapter, of Confrerie des Vignerons de Saint Vincent-Macon. Our group studies/enjoys wines on a monthly basis, and we give homage to our patron saint, St. Vincent.
Your pictures are most appreciated! We need one those sculptures to pass around to different members in our group, as we go through the year! Great photos!
Steve Lutz
Posted by: Steve Lutz | February 18, 2007 at 06:38 PM