Fête de la Vigne

Posted by Analyse at 7:14 PM

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

The still timid color-changing of the leaves at the park and around the area announces another season - the coming of autumn! September promises a festive ambiance in Côte d'Or - the harvest time where viticuleurs (wine growers) stick to their old tradition by harvesting their grapes manually!

What's remarkable in this region is the long coast of vineyards where Burgundy wines are extracted and aged to perfection. In fact, the autumn color of these vineyards reflects the name of the region: Côte d'Or. Côte which means Coast and Or which means Gold (the color of the grapevine during autumn). Some oldies even consider that the name came from the fact that this region is a haven, a gold mine for viticulteurs, which isn't faux after all. And who wouldn't? You could buy the best and the most expensive wine here.

The 1st day of September opens the much-awaited Fête de la Vigne (Wine Festival) in Côte d'Or. Every year, the region offers the biggest international cultural show. A batch of representatives from all over the world come to this region ready to showcase their folklore to bag a recognition. This year, representatives from Brazil will surely fire up the ambiance in the avenues of Dijon. Other delegations are from Italy, Serbie and Montenegro, Ukraine, Sakha Republic, Greece, Slovakia, India, Israel and Bulgaria.

Tracking back, Fidji Island made the Dijonnais scream with enthusiasm year 2003, Africa hit the road with powerful energy (and kilikili power!!) as they paraded last year. 2002 was my first Fête de la Vigne, and what's so special is that, we had a delegation from the Philippines. Honestly, at first, it was a lousy parade. While everybody was dancing in the streets, the Pinoys were walking leisurely while singing Bayan Ko accompanied by their guitars. And then, infront of the jury, they started singing Douce France. Oh well, I was thinking, f***, that's not even our folksong! But hey, after a while I started to hear everybody singing the same song...so who cares hehe..after all, we're karaoke champions, right?

That night, I invited frenchguy to watch the championship (participants are already preselected) and was surprised to learn that the Philippines were among the contestants...Ano pa nga ba? Of course, we got the first place and the audience's favorite category (sipsip, kumanta ba naman in french hehe)..laban ka?

This Saturday, the streets of Dijon will surely be busy with cultural delegations from France and all over the world. That would mean: FIESTA! Sunday promises a long queue of dégustation (wine tasting) of non other than the best wines of Burgundy (on the list are 1er Cru and Grand Cru!) and a parade of all the representative countries just before the show where the best among the bests will be selected. So if you haven't booked anything for this weekend, consider Dijon and remember, I'm just a click away.

9 comments:

Bokbok said...

yikes! didn't 'we' look a bit ringard à l'époque? hehe

sarap pala sa dijon, feeling extended palagi ang vacances. ang mapo-profit lang namin dito e ang soldes ng wines na mangagaling dyan, yun lang! kya lang, i don't drink, husband non plus...

ana dear, super init na naman! i know how tough it is to be pregnant during the summer. Just drink a lot of water and juice. ooh, heureusement, t'as ton aquagym.

take care!
bokisky

duke said...

sarap naman! parang fiesta pero maraming wine sa tabi tabi! ano ba yan bakit naman bayan ko ang kanta ng pinas?parang rally sa luneta (LOL!) enjoy the festivities dear!

Anonymous said...

i love the way you described the whole festivity. it adds dimension to what little i know of dijon. enjoy the fete! :)

linnor

Anonymous said...

next year punta ako! by then ill be a true alcoholic.:-)
nice pics and review.
-kala

Analyse said...

Boks, kami naman, we're thinking how much of our taxes go to organize that festival hehe...pero k lang, it's really fun, i look forward to that festival every year...atsaka, Côte d'Or is rich, kunting libreng show naman..and it's their way to promote their wine too...for sure, dami na namang tourists nyan...

Duke, just think of the wine as halohalo, fiesta na nga hehe..i actually found them baduy and worst is that, frenchguy never stopped teasing me, yun daw ba ang da best that we could offer, so ayun, tameme sya when we got the first place hehe..

Linnor, yeah actually, Dijon is not well known, but it's actually the capital of Burgundy....Burgundy wines...does that sound more familiar?

Kala, aw, i'll wait for that hehe..actually, we're more behaved now since we live quite far from the center...before, during fiestas like that, we go by foot para mas safe hehe..

RAV Jr said...

Wow, fiesta ba, inuman na namn lalo't marami palang wine jan, hehehe

Sana makapunta din ako jan, hehehe..mamyesta kung baga..parang ginawang pinas no? hehehe

Anonymous said...

Wow! I remember when I went ot the Pinoy festival here in Tampa. I was so excited I bought 1 whole box of mangos (to my disappointment it was from mexico but tasted the same) and ate lechon paksiw and dinuguan. The dinuguan tasted funny though and ended up throwing it away. Oh well...

Ligaya said...

ang saya-saya naman sa Dijon, may pista!
I enjoyed the pics, ang gaganda ng pagkakuha. =)

Analyse said...

Dops, nakakatuwa silang tignan pag wine tasting, kasi they have this technique kuno, para silang nagmumumog hehe, that is to roll the wine sa tounge nila to savour the taste...but of course, you will distinguish those who are pretending to be expert...obvious kasi hehe..

Patrice, nakakaexcite nga pag me gathering na ganyan, i was in paris for the barrio fiesta this year, i was disappointed too with the pansit palabok i bought, pero ok sa alright sa halo halo hehe, nakadalawang order yata ako in a day hehe..

Ligs and Nao, tara, fiesta kayo dito sa min, hehe...