The tradition of St. Martin – a celebration of food and drink

Young wine in celebration of St. Martin

Traditionally, fattened geese are roasted on 11 November, and the first bottles of young wine open at exactly 11:11 am. St. Martin wines are fresh and young, as they only have a few weeks to mature. They are very clear and have a lower alcohol content. So join the celebrations, because it's high time to taste what this year has brought!

St. Martin wines are always the first wines of the new vintage. These are fresh and fruity wines, which have matured for only a few weeks, but during this time, they had enough to acquire their distinctive character. For a wine to bear the St. Martin brand, it must be made in the Czech Republic from grapes of the varieties Müller Thurgau, early Roter Veltliner, Moravian Muscat, Blauer Portugieser, Svatovavřinecké (St. Laurent) and Zweigeltrebe and undergo an evaluation by an independent committee. It blind tastes the properties of the wine, such as appearance, aroma, taste, and overall impression of the wine.

So if you buy wine with the St. Martin label, you can be sure that you will be getting quality young wine from South Moravia, Mělnicko or other areas in Central or Northern Bohemia.

St. Martin wine tasting – start of the celebrations

The Czech association of winemakers, called the Wine Fund (Vinařský Fond), is once again planning the largest tasting of St. Martin wines in the Czech Republic on 11/11 at 11 am on Brno's Náměstí Svobody square. The St. Martin wine tasting traditionally offers 100 samples of St. Martin wines from 100 different winemakers. But you can also look forward to more tastings, i.e. wine tastings and St. Martin’s Day processions throughout the Czech Republic. For example, in the Prague Botanical Garden, in Český Krumlov and in Jihlava.

St. Martin’s Day in restaurants

You can be sure that almost every restaurant around mid-November will be offering its visitors a special St. Martin's Day menu. What does it feature? According to a tradition that has lasted for several centuries, geese were always roasted in the autumn, fresh cabbage was processed, and wine or beer was drunk. And today's restaurants and pubs remain faithful to these basic ingredients. Typically, you will be served liver pâté as an appetizer, followed by a strong broth with liver dumplings and noodles, which the chefs usually leave to simmer overnight, with the main course being roast goose with red or white cabbage and dumplings. And for drinks? You can choose to pair your meal with a St. Martin wines, or you can select from the beer special. In recent years, breweries are trying to outdo themselves, competing on who will brew the best special for the St. Martin's holiday table. Cheers!

If you would like to try roasting a St. Martin's goose yourself, see our recipe.

Where to taste St. Martin's menu? In Czech Specials restaurants!

Restaurants in Prague

• Restaurant Sezóna (November 8 - 11): A festive menu created by chef Martin Tamel. Highlights include goose liver terrine with spicy onion, pear and chilli chutney, or a quarter of a young goose with apples, thyme, three types of cabbage and a trio of dumplings.
• Restaurant Obecní dům: St. Martin's brunch featuring traditional goose soup (kaldoun), duck roulade stuffed with goose liver, and sweet treats such as St. Martin's croissants and homemade goose ice cream.
• Malostranská beseda: Menu featuring smoked duck breast with blackberry reduction, red Swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, and frisée salad.
• PUOR Restaurant Kulaťák (November 7–11)
• SOU100 Žižkov (November 8–11)
• U Pinkasů (from the 7th November): Goose liver in lard with pomegranate and roasted almond flakes, Poultry soup with vegetables and bread dumplings, St. Martin's goose roasted on apple and marjoram, with red wine cabbage and a variation of dumplings serve. All of them recommend also with St. Martin's red wine of  Znovín Znojmo cellars.
   

Tasting Across the Country

• Restaurant Narpa in Lány: Traditional St. Martin's duck, paired with young wines from the Nechory winery.
• Hostinec U Hubálků: A St. Martin's buffet with more than 20 types of young wines and a full menu including appetiser, soup and dessert.
• Angusfarm Soběsuky near Pilsen (November 8–11)
• Pivnice Na Štokách in Vysočina: Goose soup enriched with butter, confit goose legs and potato pancakes (lokše) filled with goose liver.
• Usedlost pod Vinohrady (November 8–10): A special menu includes everything from gently sautéed goose liver to traditional confit goose leg served with red and white cabbage and dumplings. Starters, warming soups, and sweet endings are all part of the experience.
• Grandhotel Pupp Karlovy Vary, goose-focused menu with wine pairings.
• Vila Fitz in Pilsen (November 10-16) : The menu includes duck pâté in red wine, goose soup with homemade noodles and root vegetables, confit goose leg, red cabbage with cranberries and a pear tart with cloves and meringue for dessert.
• Restaurant Na Kraji lesa (November 10-16) Look forward to goose rillettes, pâtés, kaldoun, confit legs, smoked goose breast, and shredded goose meat.
• Restaurant and café on T.G. Masaryka Square in Nový Bohumín, St. Martin´s menu is accompanied by live music – including violin and djembe – alongside goose dishes, St. Martin’s wines, and beers

Festivities in the market, gallery, castle or underground

City markets are not far behind either. In Prague, you can visit the St. Martin's Day celebrations at the Náplavka market on Rašín's Embankment on 8 November from 10 am. Young wines from Czech and Moravian winemakers, roast geese and other delicacies from this year's harvest will be available for tasting. The programme will be complemented by live music in the form of classical dulcimer or lively swing.

In Kutná Hora in Central Bohemia, the St. Martin's Feast will take place on November 8 at the Monastery of St. Ursula. What can you expect? A diverse collection from proven winemakers from Bohemia and Moravia, including, of course, young wines from winemakers in the Kolín and Kutná Hora regions. All this combined with modern gastronomy focused on local suppliers and ingredients.

A folk fair with dulcimer music awaits visitors to Zbiroh Chateau. The St. Martin's Day celebration will take place here on November 7-9, when the saint himself will appear on horseback.

Traditional St. Martin's Day festivities will also take place in Mikulov (7-15 November), Lednice (15 November, Chateau Riding Hall), Znojmo (November 8) or in the unique labyrinth of historic wine cellars in the Valtice Underground (15 November) in South Moravia.