History of our Wine Society

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In Paris after the Second World War, following a long period of restriction due to the Occupation, the wine, one of the greatest national products, was very slowly reappearing on the tables and in the wine houses. But what wine! More and more fake wines and other scandals concerning the wine were exposed in the newspapers.

 

Despite everything, there were some privileged and rare places where good wine could still be found. There was one, in the “Quartier Latin”, hidden at the bottom of a very small street, la rue DUPUYTREN, near the Faculty of Medicine of Paris.

 

It was a small wine house - a few square meters- with a  several floor cellar built in the stone, concealing a treasure of old bottles and everybody marvelled at how these bottles had survived the storm of occupation without damage . Everywhere, the rationing remained difficult, but there, the oak barrels of two vineyards, Vouvray and Morgon, arrived regularly. 

 

It was a confidential address. Only initiates were allowed there because the iron curtain of the shop-window was often lowered.  Among the regular customers - doctors, professors of the Medical Faculty, some industrialists, lawyers, journalists, tradesmen and caretakers of the district- a peculiar person stood out:  a person who had a large character, a high stature, a stentorian voice, an imposing white beard, a black cape and a painter hat. He behaved like a patriarch and seemed to have a great prestige. 

 

His name was Comte Jean-Paul Mariage EUDES DE SAINT PIERRE, a former pupil of the School of Chartes, a great genealogist, an epicurean of the medieval history an influential amateur of good wine and good food.

 

This scholar of the wine never stopped speaking  against the adulterated and mechanized wines, and praising the merits of the " vin vray " (real wine). One day, he discovered in the National Library, in the Acta Sanctorum of Bollandistes, a forgotten martyrdom: Saint Bacchus. What a discovery! He was exactly the Saint to launch a crusade in favour of the "vin vray" and the vine growers against the mechanized wines and the chemists who manufactured them.

 

The learned assembly of the street DUPUYTREN was informed of the discovery, approved of the project, and while taking as a starting point the Orders of knighthood of the Middle Ages, wrote the Holy Rule of a new order baptized: " Ordre Hospitalier Curieux et Courtois des Chevaliers de Saint Bacchus " (Hospitable, Curious and Courteous Order of the Knights of Saint Bacchus). Somebody drew the arms of the Order, somebody else established its slogan and its rallying cry:  

 

" Par Saint Bacchus, Aymons nous ! " 

 

The Duke of BEAUFFREMONT COURTENAY was the first president of the Order.

 

After several years of discussion, everything was ready. The Order was inaugurated on October 7th, 1949. The Abbot Nestor DELETOILE celebrated a mass in the Church of Saint German l'Auxerrois in PARIS and the first Chevaliers (knights) were enrolled.

Today the Order has spread from France to Belgium, England and  even Canada. Members are call Chevaliers ( men) and Chanoinnesse ( Women) and meet together at great cermonies to eat and drink great wine and to share fellowship with lovers of 'Vin Vray' from all Nationalities.

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If you are a lover of good Wine and would like more information please use the Contact Button above. We would love to hear from you.

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Par Saint Bacchus, Aymons nous

 

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