Fête du Pressoir

The Fête du Pressoir of Champvallon, living memory of a lost vineyard

In the heart of the Tholon valley, in Burgundy's Yonne department, the village of Champvallon (89710) houses a little-known heritage treasure: a 13th-century lever wine press, one of the most remarkable in France, listed as a Historic Monument by decree on July 26, 2002. It is around this exceptional witness to medieval viticulture that the association La Champvallonnaise organizes every year, at the beginning of September, the Fête du Pressoir — known locally as Feu des Vendanges.

Since its early editions, this event has brought together residents, winemakers, artisans, and visitors at the Parc du Pressoir, rue Saint-Vincent, for a festive outdoor evening combining a night market, concerts, wine tastings, and activities related to local wine heritage. Free admission, the event is fully in line with the spirit of authentic rural festivals that enrich the living heritage of the Yonne.

The Champvallon wine press: an exceptional monument

The Champvallon wine press is a lever press built of brick in opus incertum and flint, dating back to the 13th century, with elements preserved from the 14th century and substantial reconstruction in the 18th century. Around 1789, the machine was moved and reassembled in its current cellar, specially built to house it.

Its dimensions are impressive: the lever, made of four juxtaposed tree trunks, measures 9.50 meters long. The surface of its maie (juice receptacle) is nearly 15 m². The ratchet wheel, 2.70 meters in diameter, is presented as "the largest still existing". The anchoring system plunges through twin wooden blocks into a cylindrical pit 7 meters deep. This colossal mechanism is directly related to the four identical presses of the famous Clos Vougeot in Côte-d'Or, establishing a strong architectural and cultural link between these two major sites of Burgundian wine heritage.

The wine press comes from the Château de Champvallon, former property of Jacques de Harlay, a historical figure who is said to have forced Henri IV to lift the siege of Joigny in 1590. This detail illustrates the seigneurial and economic importance of the Champvallon vineyard in local history.

A lost vineyard, a preserved memory

Before the phylloxera crisis at the end of the 19th century, Champvallon and the entire Tholon valley were an active wine-growing area. The hillsides of Aillantais produced wines that reached regional markets by river. The phylloxera catastrophe, combined with the rise of rail transport favoring wines from the South, led to the gradual abandonment of vines in these lands.

The Champvallon wine press nevertheless continued to operate: it was used by local winemakers until 1972. For a period, the machine was reactivated every first Sunday of October for a festive pressing that brought together wine brotherhoods and winemakers — a tradition whose spirit is perpetuated today by the Fête du Pressoir, even though the date has shifted to early September.

The Communauté de Communes de l'Aillantais now owns the wine press, and its building houses it. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and local authorities, the monument has undergone restoration work. The cellar and its outbuildings have been adapted to welcome the public. Guided tours are offered by appointment for groups, with a presentation of the mechanism's operation and wine tasting from the estate.

The Fête du Pressoir: program and activities

The Fête du Pressoir takes place on the first or second weekend of September, starting at 6:00 PM, at the Parc du Pressoir. The event is organized by the association La Champvallonnaise, the village's animation committee that has been ensuring the cultural and social vitality of Champvallon for many years.

The program includes several types of activities:

• Night market: exhibitors of local and regional art and crafts — potters, jewelers, porcelain painters, textile designers, donkey milk soap makers, and many other art professions.
• Food and wine producers: local producers of cheeses, honeys, jams, cured meats, artisanal bread, and wines from the Yonne. The presence of winemakers like Domaine Proffit, whose cellar is located in Champvallon itself, reminds us that the wine tradition has not completely disappeared from the terroir.
• Open-air concerts: each edition features one or two live bands — folk, rock, soul, blues, world music — in the festive and popular spirit that characterizes the evening.
• Fireworks: some editions conclude with a fireworks display over the park.
• Bar and catering on site: a friendly bar offers drinks and light refreshments throughout the evening.

The heritage dimension is at the heart of the event: the proximity of the medieval wine press, visible and accessible from the park, constantly recalls the village's wine-growing history. Some editions offer a guided tour of the wine press on the sidelines of the festival, allowing visitors to discover the colossal mechanism under the spotlight.

Champvallon, a hamlet of Montholon in the Aillantais region

Since January 1, 2017, Champvallon has become a delegated commune of the new commune of Montholon (89110), alongside Aillant-sur-Tholon, Villiers-sur-Tholon, and Volgré. This administrative regrouping has not erased the village identity of Champvallon, of which the wine press remains the strongest symbol.

The village is located in the Gâtinais bourguignon, between Auxerre (40 km southeast) and Joigny (15 km east), in the green Tholon valley. The landscape, gentle and bocage, has retained something of the agricultural countryside before industrialization. The Fête du Pressoir naturally fits in as a celebration of living rural heritage, far from mass events, on a human scale and rooted in the local community.

For visitors, the day can be extended by discovering the Tholon hiking trail, the medieval village of Aillant-sur-Tholon, or by a detour to Joigny and its Renaissance half-timbered houses, a few kilometers to the east.