The Grapes Have Ripened, It´s Time for the Grape Harvest!

Traditionally, grape harvesting used to be considered as a festivity, the picking of the fruit that was produced by a whole year of work, therefore the collecting of the beautifully ripe grapes was a huge event. Grape picking was not just agricultural but also important social labour because this was the time when relatives and people from the village gathered to participate in this one day of labour.

Several days prior to the grape picking, the men would wash the barrels and tubs, prepare tarps, scoops and buckets. The housewives would bake and cook for the big day. Obligatory on this occasion were the pogácsa, brandy, goulash, as well as wine…

According to tradition, the women would pick the grapes while the men collected the fruit into the scoops while singing, making jokes and being much too loud. Each of the scoop-bearing men had a freshly chopped twig in their hands on which they carved a score each time they filled up a scoop with grapes. The collected grapes were then taken to the vineyard cellar where the processing of the fruit began: crushing, treading, pressing… The grape harvest was finished with a conclusion song which was then followed by merry-making. A really nice custom has survived connected to the grape harvest. According to it, if the master manages to win the participants´ respect, then the lads who carry the scoops make him a crown of grapes.