The Bloodwine Harvest

In Autumn as the grapes are being harvested in Baelric, some of the more remote vineyards conduct what is called the Bloodwine Harvest to insure that their vines produce the following year.
The ceremony occurs on the the night of the full moon in the month of Thokotide. In the days leading up to the ceremony, a sacrificial animal is selected, usually an ox, but it can be other large animals as can be afforded by the owner of the vineyard. The animal is placed in a small pen or enclosure and cared for most meticulously as befitting it's role in the upcoming event.  The animal is washed and fed the finest grains and other foods that it normally would consume. Also selected are a number of women who have not yet wed. They too are well taken care of in the days leading up to the ceremony.
On the morning of the ceremony, the selected women first fed and wash the selected animal, and then they wash themselves and put on clean white shifts. As the moon rises, the animal is lead up a platform that has been constructed for the event, and rituals and prayers to the Risen are performed.  When the animal has been properly blessed, the women are led into a grape vat that sits below the platform. More rituals and prayers are said, blessing the women, and then they start stomping the grapes in the vat. As they do this, the animal on the platform above them is sacrificed, and the blood from drains down over the women below, and into the grapes they are stomping. The women continue to mash the grapes as the juice and blood mingle and flow out into a barrel. Once the blood from the animal and the mashing of the grapes has filled the barrel, the ceremony ends.  The women are led away to clean them selves up, and the animal, is prepared for cooking.  All night long the animal is roasted, and may other dishes are prepared, and at noon the following day a feast is held to celebrate the harvest, and give thanks and prayers that the next harvest will be even bigger. The cask of Bloodwine from last year's harvest is opened, and the women who participated in this year's ceremony share the first cup. After that, all the cups are filled and the celebration continues. 
It is believed that the women who take part in the ceremony will find their true love in the following year, although that doesn't always happen as expected.

History

Rumors persist that on occasion of a particularly bad harvest, that it is not an animal that is sacrificed, but instead a woman from the prior year's ceremony, who has not found their love yet. The thought being that the woman's bad luck must be the reason for the poor harvest. While this practice is forbidden in Baelric, whispers of it occurring are often heard.