After nearly 40 years, COUCHEY, a village in the Côte de Nuits, will host the Saint-Vincent Tournante for the second time for its 79th edition on January 28 and 29, 2023. For several months, its winegrowers and its inhabitants will unite by combining know-how, creativity and good humor to prepare this celebration and welcome visitors as well as possible and make this tradition a festive and convivial moment.
A little history : Since the Middle Ages, each village has had a “mutual aid society”, an association of religious origin for mutual aid between winegrowers placed under the protection of Saint-Vincent, patron saint of winegrowers. These associations were created with the aim of helping winegrowers who were sick or unable to take care of their vines. Each member came to give a few hours of their working time free of charge to compensate for the lack linked to the illness or accident of the winegrower. Today, the 85 brotherhoods still exist to promote mutual aid and perpetuate ancestral traditions.
Saint-Vincent is the feast of winegrowers and their mutual aid societies. In the 19th century, in most villages, and when there was a statue of the Patron Saint, every year, on January 22, a winegrower family welcomed the Saint for a year and received all the winegrowers in their winery. After the disappearance of most of these mutual aid societies in the 1930s, the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (created in 1934) decided in 1938 in Chambolle-Musigny to reconnect with traditions by extending Saint-Vincent to Burgundy: the party will rotate from village to village.
Today, every year, at the end of January, a winegrower family hosts a statue of the Patron Saint for a year and receives all the winegrowers in its vat room. A great parade-procession of all the Saints of these societies thus represents the meeting of all the villages. It is followed by a religious service dedicated to Saint-Vincent and launches the weekend of festivities.
COUCHEY, a wine village : The village of Couchey is a wine-growing village, whose existence dates back several centuries. Like many villages in Burgundy, this one was set up as a seigneury. In the 7th century, Duke Amalgaire endowed the abbey of Bèze with an estate he owned in Couchey. The religious orders are thus the first to develop it.
Thus, in the 18th century, there were 300 vine journals (1 journal = 34 ares 1/3). The vines on Couchey bear the Marsannay appellation since 1987. The seigniory was the possession of many families of Burgundy, but very few of them owned it entirely. The current coat of arms of the village corresponds to the arms of the last family to which the seigniory of Couchey belonged: the FEVRETS.
Blazon :
Quarterly: 1st and 4th Azure three bands Or, 2nd and 3rd Argent a boar's head, torn Sable, army Argent, defended from the field and langued Gules. The arms crossed with sword of cross mouth and pommel Sable, posed in pale, the point in bottom debruising on the whole.
The Wolves of Couchey :
Wolves ? Do not be afraid !!! The only wolves you may encounter in Couchey are its inhabitants. Why are they called that?
It was customary, when the ties between neighboring communities were stronger, to give each other nicknames from village to village, most often to make fun of the neighbors. This nickname could thus come to them from a distant era (Middle Ages), where in times of famine, they would have devoured a dead horse. Then, around 1840, when one of the Longvic miller's horses, having broken its leg, was shot, and as it was young and fat, the inhabitants of Couchey cut it up and devoured it, as wolves would have done.
The inhabitants of Couchey thus inherited the nickname "Wolves", a nickname that was quite common in Côte d'Or and even in the Doubs in various villages. And if the wolf can be described as a diabolical animal, with an unsociable character in literature and biblical texts, it is nonetheless an animal described as strong, protective and courageous.
And it is indeed a pack of Wolves that you will meet during these two days of celebration. Joyful, courageous and united to welcome you to her lair carefully decorated for the occasion!
A City-Game for Saint-Vincent : Your sense of observation will be your best asset!
To carry out the investigation, you will have to solve puzzles, look for codes through the streets of the village, snoop between the old stones of the walls... This free game to play with friends or family allows above all to discover the decorations but also hidden corners of the village of Couchey. To participate, nothing could be simpler! Bring your good mood, your charged phone and scan the following QR-code :
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