Saint Vincent is the patron saint of vignerons. The vignerons in Champagne celebrate Saint Vincent as a fraternity, in their own village, on 22 January every year. They dress up in colourful traditional costumes, parade, attend mass in the local church, thank Saint Vincent for the past harvest, and pray for his protection during the coming year, eat brioche and drink champagne of course.
And the week before, all the villages also get together as an archconfraternity to do the same thing behind a banner with the name of their village, and this time champagne houses join them.
Since houses source their grapes from a multitude of villages, they parade behind a banner with the name of their house. So do viticulture schools.
The tradition of celebrating Saint Vincent is a way of celebrating their collective sense of pride in their heritage. You can take a look at my photos here to give you an idea. This year it will be celebrated in Epernay and I have put together an itinerary for anyone who would like to join me to celebrate Saint-Vincent this year.
I will be carrying a blue backpack. During the journey I will talk to you about the history of the wine, geography of the region, and how the industry is organised today.
