One of the old traditions of Kőszeg is to note down every year what the current grape shoots look like. Every year on April 24, the grape shoot on St. George’s Day is drawn in the book of the coming of the Vzőlő.
The book of the coming of grapes began to be kept in 1740, but the tradition itself probably lived in the 16th century and has continued ever since, except for a few years after 1788, when the buds usually froze. In addition to St. George’s Day, entries were also made on St. Lawrence’s and St. Ursula’s days, but a graphic illustration was only added to the book on April 24. The vine shoots are immortalized in artistic pencil and pen drawings, later watercolors. The date of the registration of the vine shoot coincided with the day of the election of the town judge and other officials and the beginning of the farming year. Since 1930, the name of the vineyard from which the sample originates has also been recorded. At the end of the year, the characteristics of the year’s grape harvest were also recorded in the book. The recording of shoots is not suitable for predicting the quality of the crop based on the testimony of some entries, although some correlation can be discovered.
The book includes drawings by the following artists: Károly Schubert, János Kugler, Antal Hanély, Vera Csapody, János Horváth, István Bechtold, János Németh. The original book from the 18th century is already full, the current one, which has been kept since 1991, is a gift from Kőszeg’s German sister city, Vaihingen an der Enz.
The book is currently kept by the Miklós Jurisics Castle Museum. In 2013, the tradition of the Book of the Coming of the Vine was added to the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Every year, the city organizes a series of cultural programs, in which the book plays an important role.
