Every year Burgundy celebrates the Patron Saint of Wine with a festival in one of the key wine villages – and for 2024 it is Morey Saint Denis / Chambolle Musigny(on the weekend of 27 – 28 January 2024 – although St Vincent’s Day is actually on 22 January.
Negociants are a key feature of the Burgundy wine scene, who buy wines (sometimes just grapes) from small winemakers and blend and market them under their own label. Some of the top names in Burgundy are these merchant/blenders -e.g.Jadot. Although the trend elsewhere in France is towards domaine-bottled and labelled wines, a good negociant can be very useful, especially in Burgundy where many of the domaines are quite small. The vigneron can concentrate on his vines and winemaking, whilst the negociant develops marketing and distribution channels which most small winemakers would be unable to access. Where the negociant blends, this can ensure consistency of style, and can more easily reflect changing tastes and styles.
However, back to the St Vincent Tournante – this will have all the trappings of a good wine festival – processions, music, ceremonies, plenty of wines to taste and, being Burgundy, plenty of excellent food to sample. It’s a pretty little town, and a weekend here should brighten up an otherwise dull end of January.
This great popular festival full of traditions celebrates Saint-Vincent, the patron saint of winegrowers. In theCôte d’Or, the festivities begin with a large procession in the village chosen for that year (it changes each year, hence ‘Tournante’) . This procession comes to a close with the Brotherhood of Knights of Tastevin – Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin For more info see www.burgundy-tourism.com
