Saint-Vincent Tournante 2026:the winegrowers' festival

In short: every year since 1938, the Saint-Vincent Tournante gathers up to 60,000 visitors in a different Burgundy wine village to celebrate the winegrowers’ patron saint. The 2026 edition runs on 24 and 25 January across the three Maranges communes (Cheilly-lès-Maranges, Dezize-lès-Maranges and Sampigny-lès-Maranges), which had not hosted the festival since 1997. On the programme: a morning parade of growers in traditional dress, inductions, tastings in fifteen cellars across the three villages, a growers’ meal and guaranteed popular atmosphere.

The Saint-Vincent Tournante is not a wine festival like the others. It is not a trade fair or a market: it is a village festival, organised by and for winegrowers, that for two days turns a quiet wine commune into a vast gathering place. The word “tournante” says it all: each year the festival changes village, rotating from one appellation to another, so that the same place hosts it only about once a generation. That rarity makes it a highly anticipated event, and the 2026 Maranges edition is especially special: you have to go back to 1997 to find the last Saint-Vincent organised in this corner of the Côte de Beaune.

Origins of the Saint-Vincent Tournante

Saint Vincent, patron of winegrowers

Saint Vincent, patron of winegrowers, details

The festival draws its roots from Christian tradition. Saint Vincent has been the winegrowers’ patron saint since the early Middle Ages, for a simple reason: his feast falls on 22 January, a date that in traditional wine calendars marks the start of vine pruning. It is the first gesture of the annual cycle, the one that decides the shape of the vine, the number of buds and thus the quantity and quality of the coming harvest. Placing that pruning under the saint’s protection was no anecdote for communities that depended entirely on the vine to survive.

Every Burgundy wine village celebrated Saint Vincent locally, with a mass, a parade and a meal. The tradition has been maintained in many communes, independently of the great rotating festival.

Creation of the rotating festival in 1938

The idea of making a great festival “rotate” from village to village was born in 1938, at the initiative of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (founded in 1934) and Burgundian winegrowers. The aim was twofold: create a unifying event for all of winegrowing Burgundy, and promote each appellation’s wines, year after year, by giving every village its moment in the light.

The first edition was held in 1938, interrupted by the Second World War and then resumed without a break. For nearly ninety years the Saint-Vincent Tournante has thus visited dozens of villages on the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Yonne, each time with the same mix of religious fervour, local pride and collective tasting.

The festival in Maranges: 2026 edition

Three villages for one edition

For the 2026 edition, the Saint-Vincent Tournante takes over the three communes of the Maranges appellation: Cheilly-lès-Maranges, Dezize-lès-Maranges and Sampigny-lès-Maranges. These three villages, at the southern tip of the Côte de Beaune on the Saône-et-Loire border, share the Maranges appellation (red and white), one of the southernmost of the Côte de Beaune.

Organising the festival across three communes rather than one is a logistical challenge, but also an opportunity: each village has its own cellars, streets and squares, and visitors are invited to move between the three sites over the weekend. Paid shuttles (€6.50 return per adult) link the villages, and parking is organised on the periphery to avoid saturation.

The weekend programme

The festival begins on Saturday 24 January late morning, with the opening of the tasting cellars. In the three villages, fifteen cellars (five per commune) open their doors: private cellars, village halls, converted barns, every available space is turned into a tasting place where local growers offer their wines: Maranges, of course, but also neighbouring appellations that visitors can discover cellar by cellar.

Sunday 25 January is the day of the grand parade. In the morning, growers in traditional dress (often the black soutane adorned with the cross of Saint Vincent, or the winegrower’s work smock) parade through the streets of the main village, accompanied by brass bands, invited confraternities and many figures from the wine world. The parade heads for the village church, where a solemn mass is celebrated in honour of Saint Vincent, with a blessing of the wines and the growers.

The afternoon is devoted to inductions: the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin or other local confraternities induct personalities (growers, elected officials, artists, journalists) into the order of the Gandins, a colourful ceremony, with an oath, medal presentation and ritual tasting. Everything ends with a great growers’ meal served in one of the communal halls, where terroir products (jambon persillé, boeuf bourguignon, cheeses, pain d’épices) are paired with the host village’s wines.

The atmosphere: a popular, authentic festival

What makes the Saint-Vincent Tournante distinctive is its deeply popular and authentic character. Unlike professional fairs where stands are lined up, the cellars are in the growers’ homes, their caves, courtyards, garages. You often taste standing, packed together, in a village-festival atmosphere with nothing stiff about it.

The 60,000 visitors expected over the weekend are a mix of Burgundians coming as families, wine-loving tourists, informed collectors and curious passers-by. The festival is open to all, without booking for village and cellar entry (within the limit of available places). The official tasting glass, engraved with the edition’s vintage, is bought at the entrance and lets you taste in all the cellars.

The Maranges: an appellation to discover

The 2026 edition is also a chance to spotlight an appellation less known than its prestigious neighbours (Santenay, Puligny-Montrachet, Meursault). The Maranges appellation (AOC since 1989) produces mainly red wines (pinot noir) and a small share of whites (chardonnay). Maranges reds are known for their tannic structure and ageing capacity, with aromas of red fruit and spice that evolve towards undergrowth and leather after a few years in cellar.

The appellation has several premiers crus, the best known being Clos de la Boutière, La Fussière and Le Croix Moines. These plots, on well-exposed slopes, produce wines of fine concentration that thoroughly deserve discovery.

Before and after the festival: what to do in Maranges and around

The Maranges lie about fifteen kilometres south of Beaune, on the Saône-et-Loire border. The area offers several possible visits to extend the weekend:

• Santenay (3 km): wine village with its casino and thermal springs
• Chagny (8 km): a town known for its gastronomy (the Maison Lameloise, a starred table)
• Couches (12 km): medieval château and vineyard museum
• Le Creusot (20 km): industrial town and Musée de l’Homme et de l’Industrie
• Beaune (15 km): the Hospices, the ramparts, the tastings

Practical tips for the Saint-Vincent Tournante 2026

Lodging

This is the critical point. The three Maranges villages are small communes without enough hotel capacity to absorb 60,000 visitors. Most participants come for the day from nearby towns (Beaune, Chalon-sur-Saône, Dijon) or book lodging within a 20- to 30-kilometre radius. Lodgings in Beaune, Chagny, Couches, Santenay or Autun fill from autumn. Book as early as possible.

Transport and parking

Access to the villages is regulated over the weekend. Dedicated car parks are set up at commune entrances, with paid shuttles (€6.50 return per adult) to the heart of the festival. Do not try to park in the villages: the streets are narrow and quickly saturated. Car-sharing is strongly recommended.

Clothes

The Saint-Vincent Tournante takes place in midwinter. January temperatures in Burgundy range from −2 to 5 °C, with a risk of rain, snow or frost. Moves between cellars are on foot, sometimes under showers. Pack warm, waterproof clothes, suitable shoes (you will walk on potentially muddy vineyard paths), and something to cover your head (hat, scarf).

Budget

The official tasting kit (glass, holder, map and book of 8 tickets) costs €25, and €6 for children. It gives access to tastings in the fifteen cellars, but the most prestigious wines may be offered at an extra charge. Allow €30 to €50 per person for a full day of tasting. Meals served on site (growers’ meal, charcuterie and cheese plates) are generally around €15–25. Remember to bring cash: not all cellars take cards.