The Montmartre harvest festival: five days of partying to celebrate grapes
Every October, Montmartre turns into a small village to celebrate one of its best-kept secrets: its vineyard which produces every year 800 liters of the Cuvée Montmartre. For the occasion, many attractions take place on the hill: The Poulbots of Montmatre, as the little street urchins used to be known, march up and down the streets playing their drums, followed by wine lovers. A small village with tents installed in front of the Sacré-Coeur welcomes producers of food and wine who have come from all the different regions of France to share their specialties. Visitors get to taste a wide variety of cheeses, beverages and cakes at a very reasonable price. Fireworks are set off on Saturday evening in front of the Sacré-Coeur and on Sunday, the mayor of Montmartre holds the “ceremony of non-marriage proposals”, named after Georges Brassens famous song “La non demande en mariage”.
The harvest itself takes place on Saturday and is led by the “commanderie du clos Montmartre”, an exclusive club of 200 members. They like to recall that according to the legend, wine was already produced in Montmartre during Roman times. Since the vineyard is only 1500 square meters large, the harvest is actually quite quick. It is the last vineyard land in Paris, which used to have many parcels untill the 19th century, before a disease destroyed most of them. Of course, it is possible to taste vintage wines from previous years . But don’t expect to be impressed. The Montmartre harvest is better known for its folklore than for the quality of its wine!
Montmartre harvest – From October 5th to October 9th
