Reims, January 2021
Chanoine Frères Réserve Privée celebrates St. Vincent's Day
Traditionally, every year on 22 January, Champagne honors Saint Vincent, the patron saint of winegrowers.
To celebrate the holiday, this year Chanoine Frères is offering its Réserve Privée Brut and Réserve Privée 2014 vintage cuvées at a 25% discount, from Friday 22 to Saturday 30 January, on its online store.
Champagne lovers will appreciate the temperament of these two champagnes of character with deep roots in the terroir. The wines are structured around Pinot Noir, in particular from the village of Les Riceys, and the wealth of fruity notes they have to offer is most appealing.
Saint Vincent's Day in Champagne
Revered in vineyards in France and around the world, Vincent of Saragossa, patron saint of winegrowers, was a deacon who was martyred in Spain in the 4th century. He is often portrayed with bunches of grapes or, more rarely, with the stone of a wine-press, the instrument of his martyrdom.
Celebrating Saint Vincent's Day is especially popular in the winegrowing villages of Champagne and also in neighboring Burgundy, since in both regions winemaking has its roots in monastic times. Winegrowers and townspeople, who belong to various local confréries or confraternities, march in a procession with banners and brass bands, attend Solemn Mass and then the ceremony of the blessing of the new wine and the traditional brioches.
This year, for public-health reasons, the celebrations unfortunately had to be greatly curtailed. The festivities organized by the Archiconfrérie de St Vincent des Vignerons de la Champagne, scheduled to be held in Reims this year, have been postponed until 2022.
A tradition with meaning
Isabelle Tellier, Chef de Cave of Chanoine Frères, says “Saint Vincent's Day is an important tradition for the winegrowers and the vineyards. In Champagne it is a festive and meaningful event. Saint Vincent's Day falls at a pivotal moment in the cycle of the vines and of the wine.
We thank the patron saint of winegrowers for the previous year's harvest and pray for his protection over all the work of the year ahead.”
According to peasant tradition in the countryside and in the vineyards, the weather on Saint Vincent's day forecasts the next harvest. The proverb goes “Quand il fait beau à la saint Vincent, il y a du vin dans le sarment.” ("When at St. Vincent's the weather is fine, there's wine aplenty in the vine.”)
