My evening at Clos Vougeot, by Antoine Debuquoy

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Last Saturday, I was lucky enough to take part in a chapter at Clos de Vougeot, a sublime 12th-century château built by Cistercian monks in the middle of the Côte de Nuits.

What’s a chapter?

A Chapitre is an evening at Clos de Vougeot, organized by the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. Since 1934, the mission of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin has been to promote the products of Burgundy, in particular its fine wines and regional cuisine, to maintain and re-establish the festivals, customs and traditions of Burgundian folklore, and to develop tourism in Burgundy.

A key player in major regional events, it is behind the Saint-Vincent Tournante festival, the Tastevinage and the restoration of the Château du Clos de Vougeot.

Members of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin meet for 16 chapters each year. It has 12,000 knights worldwide, and defends Burgundy and Burgundy wine in a convivial Grand Cru way, with the motto: Never in vain, always in wine!

History of the brotherhood

The brotherhood was created in 1934, reviving the spirit of certain 17th and 18th century bacchanalian brotherhoods that had fallen into oblivion.

This brotherhood also came into being for economic reasons: following the stock market crash of 1929, Burgundy was not selling well, so two Burgundians, Georges Faiveley and Camille Rodier, decided to restore color to this beautiful region and its wines! The language was more or less as follows: “Quality wines such as ours should engender joy and optimism. No more lamentations! If our cellars are full, we must empty them and invite our friends to help us. Let’s renovate our old bacchanalian brotherhoods. On the contrary, to ward off fate, let’s borrow from Rabelais his truculence and good humor, and from Molière his smiling philosophy and common sense…”.

The Brotherhood’s first act after the war was to acquire the Château du Clos de Vougeot, a Cistercian stronghold and veritable Holy Seat of the Climats Bourguignons, which was to become its headquarters!

How did the evening go?

In the early evening, a shuttle bus picked us up from our hotel, setting the tone that it would be difficult to get back on the road…

When we arrived at the Château, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the place, and went into one of the halls to watch the enthronements. With a blast of bugles and trumpets, the Grand Council of the brotherhood enters the hall and calls the new knights, five by five. A rather comical speech recounts their identities and they are then inducted, as in the UK, except that the sword is replaced by a vine! The Grand Master then recites the following ritual during his investiture: ” By Noah, father of the vine, by Bacchus, god ofwine and by Saint Vincent, patron saint of winegrowers, I make you a Chevalier du Tastevin “.

Afterwards, the aperitif was served: gougères and Crémant de Bourgogne, even their close neighbor, Champagne, has no place here!

We then sat down to dinner in the old cellar. There were around 400 guests, invited by invitation only. The banquet began, and what a banquet it was, my friends! Dishes of fine Burgundian cuisine followed, accompanied by wines each more extraordinary than the last, all from Burgundy, of course!

To accompany these succulent dishes, a folkloric group of drinking songs, the Cadets de Bourgogne, enlivened the evening with classics such as “Knights of the Round Table or “Fanchon, she likes to laugh she likes to drink” ! Knights and celebrities also took to the stage to recite hilariously humorous speeches and other oratorical jousts, often belittling the “infamous” Bordeaux wines!

In short, a Chapter at Château du Clos de Vougeot is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, bringing together bon vivants in a traditional, folkloric atmosphere for an extraordinary banquet!

Adobe Stock – Javarman