Karlín Celebrates St. Martin’s Day: Goose Specialties, Wines, and Live Music

Across Europe, the feast of St. Martin, brings a hearty winter pairing of roasted goose and, in the Czech Republic, St. Martin’s wine (Svatomartinské víno).

The medieval custom falls in November because that’s when geese were fattened across the continent and coincides with the last grape harvest of the year, meaning St. Martin is also the patron saint of vintners.

Restaurants around the country will be serving goose specials on or leading up to November 11.

Also at Karlínské náměstí, goose specialties will be available for purchase and of course, there will be young and St. Martin’s Day wines from the best wineries.

The Lovesong Orchestra will get you in the dancing mood, performing for you from 1 p.m. Find more info here

The traditional St. Martin’s meal is roast goose served up with stewed cabbage and traditional Czech dumplings, knedlíky. This is, of course, accompanied by a glass of young wine.

St. Martin’s Wine

St. Martin’s wine is taken from the first wine produced in the current growing year. It should be refreshing, a bit dry, fruity in nature and of a relatively low alcohol content.

Traditionally, the new wine is seen as an indicator of the quality of the rest of the year’s wine production. It is intended for immediate consumption and not to be aged.

In a purely Czech context, officially trademarked St. Martin’s wine (Svatomartinské víno) is strictly regulated by the Wine Fund of the Czech Republic.