Every flight we fly ends the same way: the balloon settles gently into a Carneros field, the crew packs the envelope, and someone hands you a glass of champagne. First-time flyers often assume the hot air balloon champagne toast is a modern wine-country flourish — something invented for brochures. It isn’t. The toast is older than the United States Constitution, older than the French Revolution, and it began with frightened farmers, a “flying dragon,” and a very practical peace offering. With Bastille Day coming up on July 14, there’s no better time to tell the story of ballooning’s most delicious tradition — one that started in France in 1783 and still ends every one of our Sonoma flights today.
The short answer: champagne was a peace offering to farmers
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers launched the world’s first hot air balloons in France — and terrified half the countryside doing it. Most people had never seen anything fly except birds. When a huge, smoke-breathing sphere drifted down out of the sky and landed in a farmer’s field, the reaction was not applause. Early balloons were reportedly attacked with pitchforks and scythes by villagers convinced a dragon or a demon had fallen to earth.
Early aeronauts came up with an elegant solution: carry champagne. When the balloon landed, the pilots would present a bottle to the landowner — proof that the strange visitors were friendly (and French, and civilized), and an apology for flattening a few rows of crops. The gesture worked. The bottle calmed nerves, smoothed over trampled fields, and became a ritual repeated at landing sites across France.
Two and a half centuries later, balloons no longer get mistaken for dragons, but the champagne stayed. Today the toast celebrates a safe return to earth, honors the aeronauts who came before us, and — in our corner of wine country — tastes especially right with vineyards stretching out around the landing site.
1783: the year everything (and everyone) first went up
The champagne tradition only makes sense against the backdrop of ballooning’s astonishing first year. If you want the full story, we tell it in our post on when the hot air balloon was invented, but here’s the short version:
- June 4, 1783 — Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier stage the first public demonstration of an unmanned hot air balloon in Annonay, France.
- September 19, 1783 — A sheep, a duck, and a rooster become the first passengers, flying before King Louis XVI at Versailles.
- November 21, 1783 — Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes make the first free manned flight over Paris, drifting about five miles across the city.
Ballooning is, quite literally, France’s gift to the sky — humans flew in a French balloon six years before the French Revolution began. That’s why the champagne toast feels less like a gimmick and more like an inheritance: the drink of Champagne, poured to honor a French invention, in a landscape (Sonoma and Carneros) famous for sparkling wine of its own.
Why the tradition survived when the pitchforks disappeared
Farmers stopped attacking balloons a long time ago, so why do pilots still pack a bottle? A few reasons the ritual endured:
- It marks a safe landing. Ballooning has always been an adventure at the mercy of the winds. The toast is the moment pilot and passengers acknowledge a flight well flown.
- It honors the landowner. Balloons still land where the wind decides — often on someone’s property. Goodwill toward landowners remains a real, practical part of ballooning etiquette, just as it was in 1783.
- It connects every flight to the first ones. When you raise a glass after landing, you’re repeating a gesture made by aeronauts for more than 240 years.
- It simply feels right. You’ve just floated over wine country at sunrise. Some moments deserve a proper toast.
The Balloonist’s Prayer: the words that come with the glass
At many landings around the world — ours included — the toast comes with a short blessing known as the Balloonist’s Prayer. Its author is unknown, and it’s often said to have been added by Irish balloonists in ballooning’s early years. The traditional version goes:
“The winds have welcomed you with softness. The sun has blessed you with his warm hands. You have flown so well and so high, that God has joined you in your laughter and set you gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth.”
It takes fifteen seconds to say, and it lands differently once you’ve actually flown — after an hour of drifting silently over vineyards, “the winds have welcomed you with softness” isn’t poetry, it’s an accurate flight report.
Our confession: we’re the last ones still pouring for free
Here’s the part of the story we’re proudest of. As ballooning became big business in Napa and Sonoma, most operators quietly turned the champagne toast into an upsell — a “premium add-on” or a bottle-for-purchase at the end of the flight. We think that misses the entire point of the tradition. The 1783 bottle wasn’t sold to the farmer; it was given.
So we still do it the original way. Sonoma Ballooning is the only company in our area that still includes a complimentary champagne toast with every flight — no upcharge, no fine print. We’re family-owned, we fly smaller and less-crowded baskets, and we believe the toast belongs to the flight, not the gift shop. If champagne after the flight matters to you (it should), we wrote more about choosing a Sonoma balloon ride that ends with a real champagne toast.
A few things that make our toast a little different:
- It’s complimentary, always — included with every package, from join-in flights (from about $265 per person) to private baskets.
- It happens in wine country — you toast surrounded by the Carneros vineyards you just flew over, some of which grow grapes for California sparkling wine.
- Non-flyers aren’t left out — we pour sparkling cider for kids and anyone who’d rather skip the alcohol.
- It comes with the story — our pilots share the history, and yes, the prayer.
For many guests the toast flows straight into the rest of a perfect morning — we’ve shared our favorite pairings in our guide to champagne breakfasts after a balloon ride in Sonoma.
A Bastille Day toast, Sonoma-style
Every July 14, France celebrates Bastille Day with fireworks, parades — and, in plenty of villages, balloons. We like to think of mid-July as ballooning’s unofficial heritage month: the anniversary season of the summer of 1783, when the Montgolfiers proved the sky was reachable. If you’ve been waiting for a meaningful excuse to book a flight, raising a glass of champagne in a Carneros field a stone’s throw from July 14 is about as fitting a tribute to the first aeronauts as we can imagine. Summer mornings here are calm, cool, and clear — exactly why balloon flights launch at sunrise — and the post-flight toast tastes best when the fog burns off the bay.
FAQ: the champagne toast, answered
Why is there a champagne toast after a hot air balloon ride?
The tradition dates to 1783 France, when early balloonists carried champagne as a peace offering for farmers whose fields they landed in — many of whom had never seen a flying machine and feared the balloons. Today the toast celebrates a safe landing and honors ballooning’s history.
Is the champagne toast included in the price?
With us, yes — Sonoma Ballooning is the only company in our area that still includes a complimentary champagne toast with every flight. Many other operators charge extra or have dropped the tradition entirely, so it’s worth asking before you book anywhere.
What is the Balloonist’s Prayer?
A short traditional blessing recited at the post-flight toast: “The winds have welcomed you with softness…” Its author is unknown; it has been part of ballooning culture since the sport’s earliest era.
I don’t drink alcohol — am I left out?
Not at all. We offer sparkling cider and non-alcoholic options, and underage guests always get a kid-friendly pour. The toast is about the moment, not the alcohol.
Do you fly on Bastille Day?
We fly year-round whenever the weather cooperates, July 14 included. Summer dates fill quickly, so book ahead if you want a heritage-season flight.
Come toast with us
The next time someone hands you a glass after a balloon flight, you’ll know you’re taking part in one of aviation’s oldest rituals — older than the airplane by 120 years. We’d love to pour yours. We meet at Sonoma Skypark, fly FAA-certified pilots over the Carneros and Sonoma Valley at sunrise, and finish every flight the 1783 way: cork out, glasses up, no upcharge.
Book your sunrise flight, explore our packages, or call us at 707-819-9223 — and come raise a glass to 240 years of flying.
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Sunrise join-in flights over Sonoma & Napa wine country — champagne toast included, from $265.
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