A dense crowd surges around a large red wine barrel at the center, with figures climbing over one another to fill their cups and jugs, some even perched atop the barrel itself. The gathering is chaotic, with men, women, and children pressed together, reaching, shouting, and laughing, their faces animated by the excitement of the festival. To the right, a man in a blue cloak and pink mantle sits astride a white horse, pausing to cut his cloak with a sword while a beggar kneels before him, recalling the legend of Saint Martin of Tours.

Just behind this scene, a roadside cross stands almost unnoticed by the revelers, its presence quietly referencing Christianity amid the secular celebration. The foreground is scattered with smaller vignettes: a man vomits at the lower left, another lies sprawled on the ground, while groups eat, drink, and converse, each absorbed in their own pleasures. On the left edge, a mother cradles her child, and nearby, two men scuffle, their gestures rough and urgent.

The background opens onto a village with thatched houses and bare trees, under a pale sky that recedes into a distant landscape, lending depth to the crowded foreground. The palette is earthy and subdued, with deep browns, reds, and ochres punctuated by flashes of blue and white, while the brushwork appears smooth and the forms are outlined with clear, firm lines. Every inch of the surface teems with detail: jugs, hats, musical instruments, and the varied expressions of the peasants, each rendered with careful observation and lively characterization. The Wine of Saint Martin's Day is painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder between 1565 and 1568, during the Northern Renaissance.

According to the Museo del Prado, the painting was identified as a Bruegel original in 2010 after X-ray analysis revealed fragments of the artist's signature. The subject is the popular festival of St. Martin's Day, celebrated on 11 November, when villagers drink the first wine of the season, an event vividly captured in the bustling scene.

Although not a religious painting, the work includes Christian references such as the cross and the episode of St. Martin sharing his cloak, which are set to one side rather than at the center of attention. The Prado's technical examination notes that the painting is executed in glue-size on linen, a fragile medium that has caused conservation challenges over time.