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Sillery Champagne
Sillery is a famous and ancient vineyard district of the Montagne de Reims, Champagne. Of the many misconceptions people have about champagne, one is that Dom Perignon invented it. Wine had been made in the Champagne region for centuries before the time of Dom Perignon, cellarmaster at the Abbey of Hautevilliers near Reims in the 17th century. Up until about a hundred years or so before Dom Perignon's time, though, champagne wine was a still, light red made from pinot noir grapes. As Gourmet magazine's wine editor Gerald Asher points out in his great book On Wine, it was Nicolas de Brulart [de Sillery], who first encouraged the development of a light-colored, bubbly wine, the forerunner of champagne as we know it. De Brulart owned vast vineyards in Champagne [in Sillery], and got an almost exclusive deal to supply the court of Henri IV with wine. In deference to the tastes of the time, he insisted that his winemakers produce wines that were as delicate and novel as possible. They separated the grape skins from the grape juice as soon as they could in order to get a pale wine rather than a red one, and eventually bottled the wine before shipment -- not the usual practice at the time -- so that the natural fizziness of this northern wine could be preserved rather than lost through evaporation from the barrel. The success of this bubbly concoction was so great that in 1756 Voltaire referred to champagne as "the brilliant image of France," and that epithet is probably still accurate today. Before the beginning of the nineteenth century Sillery was so reputed a district that much champagne (still and sparkling) was sold under its own name i.e. as 'Sillery' champagne. After this time all wines from this district went to market as champagne from the individual houses making it. I believe, but can't substantiate that Sillery champagne was a 'pink' champagne. This does seem likely, as the grapes grown in the Sillery district are the red grape Pinot Meunier. The district of Sillery is still famous today for it's 100% quality Grand Cru wine. Only 17 villages out of 312 are designated Grand Cru, and not all of these are 100% quality. No champagne (or still wine) is now called Sillery, but several wellknown champagne houses e.g. Moët & Chandon and Pommery, make their best champagne from vines grown in this area. You can even buy it online! For more information about Champagne generally. Did you know Sillery champagne was the original 'essential' ingredient for Syllabub? That's why it's called Syllabub! Last update - November 2002 |
