Ernest Irroy’s EstablishmentM. ERNEST IRROY’S ESTABLISHMENT AT REIMS.
M. ERNEST IRROY’S ESTABLISHMENT AT REIMS.
The offices of M. Ernest Irroy, who is known in Reims not merely as a large Champagne grower and shipper, but also as a distinguished amateur of the fine arts, taking a leading part in originating local exhibitions and the like, are attached to his private residence, a handsome mansion flanked by a large and charming garden in the Boulevard du Temple. The laying out of this sylvan oasis is due to M. Varé, the head gardener of the city of Paris, who contributed so largely to the picturesque embellishment of the Bois de Boulogne. M. Irroy’s establishment, which comprisesa considerable range of buildings grouped around two courtyards, is immediately adjacent, although its principal entrance is in the Rue de la Justice. The vast celliers, covering an area of upwards of 3000 square yards, and either stocked with wine in cask or used for packing and similar purposes, afford the requisite space for carrying on a most extensive business. The cellars beneath comprise three stories, two of which are solidly roofed and lined with masonry, while the lowermost one is excavated in the chalk. They are admirably constructed on a symmetrical plan, and their total surface is very little short of 7000 square yards. Spite of the great depth to which these cellars descend, they are perfectly dry, the ventilation is good, and their temperature moreover is remarkably cool, one result of which is that M. Irroy’s loss from breakage never exceeds four per cent per annum. M. Irroy holds a high position as a vineyard proprietor in the Champagne, his vines covering an area of nearly ninety acres. At Mareuil and Avenay he owns some twenty-five acres, at Verzenay and Verzy about fifteen, and at Ambonnay and Bouzy close upon fifty acres. His father and his uncle, whose properties he inherited or purchased, commenced some thirty years ago to plant vines on certain slopes of Bouzy possessing a southern aspect, and he has followed their example with such success both at Bouzy and Ambonnay, that the Reims Agricultural Association in 1873 conferred upon him a silver-gilt medal for his plantations of vines, and in 1880 presented him with acoupe d’honneur. M. Irroy owns vendangeoirs at Verzenay, Avenay, and Ambonnay; and at Bouzy, where his largest vineyards are, he has built some excellent cottages for his labourers. He has also constructed a substantial bridge over the ravine which, formed by winter torrents from the hills, intersects the principal vineyard slopes of Bouzy.
M. Ernest Irroy’s wines, prepared with scrupulous care and rare intelligence, have been known in England for some years past, and are steadily increasing in popularity. They are emphatically connoisseurs’ wines. The best West-end clubs, such as White’s, Arthur’s, the old Carlton, and the like, lay down the cuvées of this house in good years as they lay down their vintage ports and finer clarets, and drink them, not in a crude state, but when they are in perfection—that is, in five to ten years’ time. M. Irroy exports to the British colonies and to the United States the same fine wines which he ships to England.
Several well-known Champagne firms have their establishments in this quarter of Reims. In addition to those already mentioned, we may instance G. H. Mumm & Co., who are located in the Rue Andrieux, only a short distance from the grand triumphal arch known as the Gate of Mars, by far the most important Roman remain of which the Champagne can boast. Within a stone’s throw of this arch there formerly stood the ancient château of the Archbishops of Reims, demolished close upon three centuries ago. In the Rue de Mars, a winding ill-paved thoroughfare leading from the Gate of Mars to the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, Jules Mumm & Co., an offshoot from the once famous firm of P. A. Mumm & Co., are installed; while in a massive and somewhat pretentious-looking house, dating back to the time of Louis Quatorze, in a corner of the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, Ruinart Père et Fils, who claim to rank as the oldest existing Champagne establishment, have their offices. The late Vicomte de Brimont, the recent head of the firm, was a collateral descendant of the Dom Ruinart, whose remains repose nigh to those of the illustrious Dom Perignon in the abbey church of Hautvillers. From the Place de l’Hôtel de Ville we proceed through the narrow Rue du Tambour, originally a Roman thoroughfare, and during the Middle Ages the locality where the nobility of Reims principally had their abodes. Half-way up this street stands the famous House of the Musicians, one of the most interesting architectural relics of which the capital of the Champagne can boast. It evidently dates from the early part of the fourteenth century, but by whom it was erected is unknown. Some ascribe it to the Knights Templars, others to the Counts of Champagne, while others suppose it to have been the residence of the famous Counts de la Marck, who in later times diverged into three separate branches, the first furnishing Dukes of Cleves and Jülich to Germany, and Dukes of Nevers and Counts of Eu to France; while the second became Dukes of Bouillon and Princes of Sedan, titles which passed to the Turennes when Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, married the surviving heiress of the house. The third branchcomprised the Barons of Lumain, allied to the Hohenzollerns. Their most famous member slew Louis de Bourbon, Archbishop of Liège, and flung his body into the Meuse; and subsequently became celebrated as the Wild Boar of the Ardennes, of whom all readers ofQuentin Durwardwill retain a lively recollection.
House of the MusiciansTHE HOUSE OF THE MUSICIANS IN THE RUE DU TAMBOUR, REIMS.
THE HOUSE OF THE MUSICIANS IN THE RUE DU TAMBOUR, REIMS.
To return, however, to the House of the Musicians. A probable conjecture ascribes the origin of the quaint mediæval structure to the Brotherhood of Minstrels of Reims, who in the thirteenth century enjoyed a considerable reputation, not merely in the Champagne, but throughout the North of France. The house takes its present name from five seated statues of musicians, larger than life-size, occupying the Gothic niches between the first-floor windows, and resting upon brackets ornamented with grotesque heads. It is thought that the partially-damaged figure on the left-hand side was originally playing a drum and a species of clarionet. The next one evidently has the remnants of a harp in his raised hands. The third or central figure is supposed merely to have held a hawk upon his wrist; whilst the fourth seeks to extract harmony from a dilapidated bagpipe; and the fifth, with crossed legs, strums complacently away upon the fiddle. The ground-floor of the quaint old tenement is to-day an oil and colour shop, the front of which is covered with chequers in all the tints of the rainbow.
Leading from the Rue du Tambour is the Rue de la Belle Image, thus named from a handsome statuette of the Virgin, which formerly decorated a corner niche; and beyond is the Rue St. Hilaire, where Messrs. Barnett et Fils, trading under the designation of Périnet et Fils, and the only English house engaged in the manufacture of Champagne, have an establishment which is certainly as perfect as any to be found in Reims. Above-ground are several large store-rooms, where vintage-casks and the various utensils common to a Champagne establishment are kept; and a capacious cellier, upwards of one hundred and fifty feet in length, with its roof resting on massive timbersupports. Here new wine is stored preparatory to being blended and bottled; and in the huge tun, holding nearly three thousand gallons, standing at the further end, the firm make their cuvée; while adjacent is a room where stocks of corks and labels, metal foil, and the like are kept.
Périnet et FilsMESSRS. PÉRINET ET FILS’ ESTABLISHMENT IN THE RUE ST. HILAIRE, REIMS.
MESSRS. PÉRINET ET FILS’ ESTABLISHMENT IN THE RUE ST. HILAIRE, REIMS.
Underneath this building there are three stories of cellars—an exceedingly rare thing anywhere in the Champagne—all constructed in solid masonry on a uniform plan, each story comprising two wide galleries, running parallel with each other and connected by means of transverse passages. Spite of the great depth to which these cellars descend, they are perfectly dry; the ventilation, too, is excellent; and their different temperatures render them especially suitable for the storage of Champagne, the temperature of the lowest cellar being 6° Centigrade (43° Fahrenheit), or one degree Centigrade below the cellar immediately above, which in its turn is two degrees below the uppermost of all. The advantage of this is that, when the wine develops an excess of effervescence, any undue proportion of breakages can be checked by removing the bottles to a lower cellar, and consequently into a lower temperature.
The first cellars we enter are closely stacked with wine in bottle, which is gradually clearing itself by the formation of a deposit; while in an adjoining cellar on the same level the operations of disgorging, liqueuring, and corking are going on. At the end of this gallery is a spacious compartment, where a large stock ofpure Champagnecognac of grand vintages is stored for cask and liqueur use. In the cellars immediately beneath, bottles of wine repose in solid stacks ready for thedégorgeur; while others rest in racks, in order that they may undergo their daily shaking. In the lowest cellars reserved wine in cask is stored, as it best retains its natural freshness and purity in a very cool place. All air is carefully excluded from the casks; any ullage is immediately replaced; and, as evaporation is continually going on, the casks are examined every fortnight, when any deficiency is at once replenished. At Messrs. Périnet et Fils’, as at all the first-class establishments, thevin brutis amélangecomprising the produce of some of the best vineyards, and has every possible attention paid to it during its progressive stages of development.
From the second tier of cellars at Messrs. Périnet et Fils’ a gallery extends, under the Rue St. Hilaire, to some extensive vaults excavated beneath an adjacent building, in which the Reims Military Club is installed. These vaults, arranged in two separate stories, are eight in number, and in them we found a quarter of a million bottles ofvin brut, reposing either in solid stacks orsur pointe, the latter going through their daily shaking in order to fit them for the operation ofdégorgement. On the whole the cellars of Périnet et Fils, including the six long galleries already described, suffice for the storage of a million bottles of Champagne.
Cellars of Messrs. PérinetTHE CELLIER AND CELLARS OF MESSRS. PÉRINET ET FILS.
THE CELLIER AND CELLARS OF MESSRS. PÉRINET ET FILS.
Before leaving the establishment Champagnes of different years were shown to us, all of them soft, light, and delicate, and with that fine flavour and full perfume which the best growths of the Marne alone exhibit. Among several curiosities submitted to us was a still Verzenay of the year 1857, one of the most delicate wines it was ever our fortune to taste. Light in body, rich in colour, of a singularly novel and refined flavour, and with a magnificent yet indefinable bouquet, the wine was in every respect perfect. Not only was the year of the vintage a grand one, but the wine must have been made with the greatest possible care, and from the most perfect grapes, for so delicate a growth to have retained its flavour in such perfection, and preserved its brilliant ruby colour for such a length of time.
From the samples shown to us of Périnet et Fils’ Champagne, we were prepared to find that at some recent tastings in London, the particulars of which have been made public, their Extra Sec took the first place at each of the three severe competitions to which it was subjected.
GrottoGROTTO BENEATH THE OLD FORTIFICATIONS OF REIMS.
GROTTO BENEATH THE OLD FORTIFICATIONS OF REIMS.
La Prison de Bonne Semaine—Mary Queen of Scots at Reims—Messrs. Pommery & Greno’s offices—A fine collection of faïence—The Rue des Anglais a former refuge of English Catholics—Remains of the old University of Reims—Ancient tower and grotto—The handsome castellated Pommery establishment—The spacious cellier and huge carved cuvée tuns—The descent to the cellars—Their great extent—These lofty subterranean chambers originally quarries, and subsequently places of refuge of the early Christians and the Protestants—Madame Pommery’s splendid cuvées of 1868 and 1874—Messrs. de St. Marceaux & Co.’s new establishment in the Avenue de Sillery—Its garden-court and circular shaft—Animated scene in the large packing hall—Lowering bottled wine to the cellars—Great depth and extent of these cellars—Messrs. de St. Marceaux & Co.’s various wines—The establishment of Veuve Morelle & Co., successors to Max Sutaine—The latter’s ‘Essai sur le Vin de Champagne’—The Sutaine family formerly of some note at Reims—Morelle & Co.’s cellars well adapted to the development of sparkling wines—The various brands of the house—The Porte Dieu-Lumière.
OverseerHEAD OVERSEER AT POMMERY AND GRENO’S.
HEAD OVERSEER AT POMMERY AND GRENO’S.
NIGHthe cathedral of Reims, and in the rear of the archiepiscopal palace, there runs a short narrow street known as the Rue Vauthier le Noir, and frequently mentioned in old works relating to the present capital of the Champagne. The discovery of various pillars and statues, together with a handsome Gallo-Roman altar, whilst digging some foundations in 1837, points to the fact that a Pagan temple formerly occupied the site. The street is supposed to have taken its name, however, from some celebrated gaoler, for in mediæval times here stood ‘la prison de bonne semaine.’ On the site of this prison a château was subsequently built, which tradition has erroneously fixed upon as the residence of the beautiful and luckless Mary Queen of Scots, in the days when her uncle, Cardinal Charles de Lorraine, was Lord Archbishop of Reims. Temple, prison, and palace have alike disappeared, and where they stood there now rises midway between court and garden ahandsome mansion, the residence of Madame Pommery, head of the well-known firm of Pommery & Greno. To the left of the courtyard, which is entered through a monumental gateway, are some old buildings, let into the walls of which are a couple of sculptured escutcheons, the one comprising the arms of France, and the other those of the Cardinal de Lorraine. On the right-hand side of the courtyard are the Pommery offices, together with the manager’s sanctum, replete with artistic curiosities, the walls being completely covered with remarkable specimens of faïence, including Rouen, Gien, Palissy, Delft, and majolica, collected in the majority of instances by Madame Pommery in the villages around Reims. Here we were received by M. Vasnier, who at once volunteered to accompany us to the cellars of the firm outside the city. Messrs. Pommery & Greno originally carried on business in the Rue Vauthier le Noir, where there are extensive cellars, but their rapidly-increasing connection long since compelled them to emigrate beyond the walls of Reims.
In close proximity to the Rue Vauthier le Noir is the Rue des Anglais, so named from the English Catholic refugees, who, flying from the persecutions of our so-called Good Queen Bess, here took up their abode and established a college and a seminary. They rapidly acquired great influence in Reims, and one of their number, William Gifford, was even elected archbishop. At the end of this street, nigh to Madame Pommery’s, there stands an old house erected late in the fifteenth century, with a corner tower and rather handsome Renaissance window, which formerly belonged to some of the clergy of the cathedral, and subsequently became the ‘Bureau Général de la Loterie de France,’ an institution abolished by the National Convention in 1793.
Coats of ArmsOLD COATS OF ARMS IN THE COURTYARD OF MADAME POMMERY’S RESIDENCE.
OLD COATS OF ARMS IN THE COURTYARD OF MADAME POMMERY’S RESIDENCE.
Old House, Rue des AnglaisOLD HOUSE IN THE RUE DES ANGLAIS, REIMS.
OLD HOUSE IN THE RUE DES ANGLAIS, REIMS.
The Rue des Anglais conducts into the Rue de l’Université, where a few remnants of the old University, founded by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine (1538–74), formerly attracted attention, notably a conical-capped corner tower, the sculptured ornaments at the base of which had crumbled into dust beneath the corroding tooth of Time.[423]From the Rue de l’Université our way lies along the Boulevard du Temple to the Porte Gerbert, about a mile beyond which there rises up the curious castellated structure in whichthe Pommery establishment is installed, with its tall towers commanding a view of the whole of Reims and its environs. As we drive up the Avenue Gerbert we espy on the right an isolated crumbling tower, a remnant of the ancient fortifications of Reims,[424]while close at hand, and under the old city-walls, is a grotto, to which an ancient origin is likewise ascribed. In another minute we reach the open iron gates of Messrs. Pommery’s establishment, flanked by a picturesque porter’s lodge; and proceeding up a broad drive, we alight under a Gothic portico at the entrance to the spacious and lofty cellier. Iron girders support the roof of this vast hall, 180 feet in length and 90 feet in width, without the aid of a single column. At one end is the office and tasting-room, provided with a telegraphic apparatus and telephone, by means of which communication is carried on with the Reims bureaux. Stacked up on every side of the cellier, and often in eight tiers when empty, are rows upon rows of casks, 6000 of which contain wine of the costly vintage of 1880 sufficient for a million and a half bottles of Champagne. The temperature of this hall is carefully regulated; the windows are high up near the roof, and the sun’s rays are rigidly excluded, so that a pleasant coolness pervades the building. On the left-hand side stand two huge tuns, with the monogram P. and G., surmounting the arms of Reims, carved on their heads. These are capable of containing 5500 gallons of wine, and in them the firm make their cuvée. A platform, access to which is gained by a staircase in a side aisle, runs round one of thesefoudres; and when the wine, which has been hoisted up in casks and poured through a metal trough into thefoudre, is being blended, boys stand on this platform and, by means of a handle protruding above the cask, work the paddle-wheels placed inside, thereby securing the complete amalgamation of the wine. Adjoining are the chains and lifts worked by steam, by means of which wine is raised and lowered from and to the cellars beneath, one lift raising or lowering eight casks, whether full or empty, in the space of a minute.
Pommery and Greno EstablishmentTHE POMMERY AND GRENO ESTABLISHMENT IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF REIMS.
THE POMMERY AND GRENO ESTABLISHMENT IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF REIMS.
At the farther end of the hall a Gothic door, decorated with ornamental ironwork, leads to the long broad flight of steps, 116 in number, and nearly twelve feet in width, conducting to the suite of lofty subterranean chambers, where bottles ofvin brutrepose in their hundreds of thousands inslanting racks or solid piles, passing leisurely through those stages of development necessary to fit them for thedégorgeur. Altogether there are 130 large shafts, 90 feet in depth and 60 feet square at their base, which were originally quarries, and are now connected by spacious galleries. This side of Reims abounds with similar chalk quarries, commonly believed to have served as places of refuge for the Protestants at the time of the League and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; and it is even conjectured that the early Christians—the followers of St. Sixtus and St. Sinicus—here hid themselves from their persecutors. Since the cellars within the city have no longer sufficed for the storage of the immense stocks required through the development of the Champagne trade, these vast subterranean galleries have been successfully utilised by various firms. Messrs. Pommery, after filling up the chambers above the water level, proceeded to excavate the connecting tunnels, shore up the cracking arches, and repair the flaws in the chalk with masonry, finally converting these abandoned quarries into magnificent cellars for the storage of Champagne. No less than 60,000l.was spent upon them and the castellated structure aboveground. Several millions of bottles of Champagne can be stored in these capacious vaults, the area of which is nearly 450,000 square feet.
Pommery and Greno’s CellierINTERIOR OF MESSRS. POMMERY AND GRENO’S CELLIER.
INTERIOR OF MESSRS. POMMERY AND GRENO’S CELLIER.
Madame Pommery made a great mark with her splendid cuvées of 1868 and 1874, the result being that her brand has become widely popular, and that it invariably realises exceptionally high prices.
On leaving Messrs. Pommery’s we retrace our steps down the Avenue Gerbert, bordered on either side with rows of plane-trees, until we reach the treeless Avenue de Sillery, where Messrs. de St. Marceaux & Co.’s new and capacious establishment is installed. Simple and without pretension, the establishment, which covers an area of upwards of 18,000 feet, is distinguished for its perfect appropriateness to the industry for which it was designed. The principal block of building is flanked by two advanced wings enclosing a garden-court, set off with flowers and shrubs, and from the centre of which rises a circular shaft, covered in with glass, and admitting light and air to the cellars below. In the building to the left the wine is received on its arrival from the vineyard, and here are ranged large quantities of casks replete with the choice crus of Verzenay, Ay, Cramant, and Bouzy, whilethousands of bottles ready for labelling are stacked in massive piles at the end of the packing-hall in the corresponding wing of the establishment. Here, too, a tribe of workpeople are arraying the bottles with gold and silver headdresses, and robing them in pink paper, while others are filling, securing, marking, and addressing the cases or baskets destined to Hong-Kong, San Francisco, Yokohama, Bombay, London, New York, St. Petersburg, Berlin, or Paris.
Packing-HallTHE PACKING-HALL OF MESSRS. DE ST. MARCEAUX AT REIMS.
THE PACKING-HALL OF MESSRS. DE ST. MARCEAUX AT REIMS.
The wine in cask, stored in the left-hand wing, after having been duly blended in an enormous vat, is drawn off into bottles, which are then lowered down a shaft to the second tier of cellars by means of an endless chain, on to which the baskets of bottles are swiftly hooked. The workman engaged in this duty, in order to guard against his falling down the shaft, has a leather belt strapped round his waist, by means of which he is secured to an adjoining iron column. We descended into the lower cellars down a flight of ninety-three broad steps—a depth equal to the height of an ordinary six-storied house—and found no less than four-and-twenty galleries excavated in the chalk, devoid of masonry supports, and containing upwards of a million bottles of Champagne. These galleries vary in length, but are of uniform breadth, and allow either for a couple of racks with winesur pointe, or stacks of bottles, in four row’s on either side, with ample passage-room down the centre.
The upper range of cellars comprises two large arched galleries of considerable breadth, one of which contains wine in wood and winesur pointe, while the other is stocked with bottles of wine heads downward, ready to be delivered into the hands of thedégorgeur.
MM. de St. Marceaux & Co. have the honour of supplying the King of the Belgians, the President of the French Republic, and several German potentates with an exceedingly delicate Champagne known as the Royal St. Marceaux. The same wine is popular in Russia and other parts of Europe, just as the Dry Royal of the firm is much esteemed in the United States. The brand of the house most appreciated in this country is its Carte d’Or, a very dry wine, the extra superior quality of the firm, which secured the first place at a recent Champagne competition in England.
Some little distance beyond the remnants of the ancient fortifications of Reims, skirting the Butte de St. Nicaise, is the establishment of Veuve Morelle & Co., successors to Veuve MaxSutaine & Co. This house was founded in 1823 by the late M. Maxime Sutaine, who, like several other notabilities in the Reims wine trade, was as familiar with art and science as with the special industry to which he had devoted himself. An amateur painter of no mean skill, he showed himself thoroughly at home in the biographical and critical notices on artists and art in his native province which he produced. His name, however, is chiefly identified in literature with hisEssai sur le Vin de Champagne.[425]This work may be regarded as the first attempt to collect the scattered materials relating to the history of Champagne wine, and to deal with them in a critical spirit. Though necessarily imperfect, its value is undoubtedly great, and it has been frequently quoted from in the present volume. The family of Sutaine long held an honourable position at Reims, the name of one of M. Max Sutaine’s immediate ancestors, who filled the position of lieutenant of the city in 1765, appearing on the bronze slab at the base of the statue of Louis XV. in the Place Royale, erected during that year.
Cellars, Max Sutaine & Co.THE CELLARS OF MAX SUTAINE AND CO. IN THECHEMIN DE LA PROCESSION, REIMS.
THE CELLARS OF MAX SUTAINE AND CO. IN THECHEMIN DE LA PROCESSION, REIMS.
The cellars of the firm of Veuve Morelle & Co., successors to Max Sutaine & Co., are very extensive; and while more than usually picturesque in appearance, are in every respect admirably adapted for the rearing and development of the delicate wines of the Champagne. These cellars, hewn out of the chalk, are of great depth. The firm has been careful to adhere to the good traditions of its predecessors in the composition of its cuvées, and at the same time to avoid those errors which experience and the resources of modern science have made manifest. Its rule is only to send out wines of a good cru, and never before they are thoroughly matured, thereby avoiding the shipment of young wines. The chief kinds bearing the brand of Max Sutaine & Co. are Vin Brut (of great years), Extra Dry, Creaming Sillery, and Bouzy for England, Sillery Sec for Russia, and Verzenay and Cabinet for Germany and Belgium.
It should be mentioned that of late years the abandoned quarries, so numerous on this side of the city, have been largely utilised by the Reims Champagne manufacturers as cellars for thestorage of their wines. Beyond the firms that have been already alluded to as possessing cellars in this direction, there remain to be enumerated Messrs. Kunkelmann & Co., Ruinart Père et Fils, the Goulets, Jules Champion, Théophile Roederer, &c. The cellars of several of the last named are immediately outside the Porte Dieu-Lumière, near which is a seventeenth-century house having let into its face a curious bas-relief, of evidently much earlier date, the subject of which has been a source of considerable perplexity to local antiquaries.
A like cloud enshrouds the origin of the name of Dieu-Lumière, bestowed upon the fortified gate formerly standing here, and originally erected during the fourteenth century, when, the circle of the ramparts having been carried round the Bourg de St. Remi so as to unite it to the old city, the Porte St. Nicaise was walled up.[426]Like the other portals of Reims, it has no lack of historical associations. Its vaulted roof resounded with the trampling of barbed war-steeds when, on the 16th July 1429, Charles the Victorious swept beneath it into the city, with Joan of Arc by his side and the steel-clad chivalry of France at his back.[427]The year 1583 saw its keys handed to the Duc de Guise, and the green flag of the League, with its device ‘Auspice Christo,’ hoisted above it; and twenty-three years later, as Henri Quatre rode through it amidst shouts of welcome, the jesting remark, ‘I had no idea I was so well beloved at Reims,’ was the only attempt at revenge made by the easy-going Béarnais on the population who had so long flouted his authority. Rebuilt in 1620, it witnessed the triumphant return of Grandpré’s cavalry and the Rémois militia, after their victory over Montal and his Spaniards at La Pompelle in 1657, and the successful assault of the renegade Saint Priest, whose Cossacks entered the walls at this point in 1814, and gave way to the most brutal excesses. Nor must it be forgotten that Marie Louise passed through this gateen routefor Paris, on which occasion its summit was crowned with elaborate allegorical devices supported by cupids weaving garlands of flowers; or that for several centuries the relics of St. Timotheus and his companions were annually carried through it on Whit-Monday by the clergy of Reims, escorted by a procession of pilgrims, to the scene of the martyrdom of these early Christians at La Pompelle.
Bas-ReliefBAS-RELIEF NEAR THE PORTEDIEU-LUMIÈRE.
BAS-RELIEF NEAR THE PORTEDIEU-LUMIÈRE.
Goddess of Champagne
The connection of Epernay with the production of wine of remote date—The town repeatedly burnt and plundered—Hugh the Great carries off all the wine of the neighbourhood—Vineyards belonging to the Abbey of St. Martin in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries—Abbot Gilles orders the demolition of a wine-press which infringes the abbey’s feudal rights—Bequests of vineyards in the fifteenth century—Francis I. bestows Epernay on Claude Duke of Guise in 1544—The Eschevins send a present of wine to their new seigneur—Wine levied for the king’s camp at Rethel and the strongholds of the province by the Duc de Longueville—Epernay sacked and fired on the approach of Charles V.—The Charles-Fontaine vendangeoir at Avenay—Destruction of the immense pressoirs of the Abbey of St. Martin—The handsome Renaissance entrance to the church of Epernay—Plantation of the ‘terre de siége’ with vines in 1550—Money and wine levied on Epernay by Condé and the Duke of Guise—Henri Quatre lays siege to Epernay—Death of Maréchal Biron—Desperate battle amongst the vineyards—Triple talent of the ‘bon Roy Henri’ for drinking, fighting, and love-making—Verses addressed by him to his ‘belle hôtesse’ Anne du Puy—The Epernay Town Council make gifts of wine to various functionaries to secure their good-will—Presents of wine to Turenne at the coronation of Louis XIV.—Petition to Louvois to withdraw the Epernay garrison that the vintage may be gathered in—The Duke and Duchess of Orleans at Epernay—Louis XIV. partakes of the local vintage at the maison abbatiale on his way to the army of the Rhine—Increased reputation of the wine of Epernay at the end of the seventeenth century—Numerous offerings of it to the Marquis de Puisieux, Governor of the town—The Old Pretender presented at Epernay with twenty-four bottles of the best—Sparkling wine sent to the Marquis de Puisieux at Sillery, and also to his nephew—Further gifts to the Prince de Turenne—The vintage destroyed by frost in 1740—The Epernay slopes at this epoch said to produce the most delicious wine in Europe—Vines planted where houses had formerly stood—The development of the trade in sparkling wine—A ‘tirage’ of fifty thousand bottles in 1787—Arthur Young drinks Champagne at Epernay at forty sous the bottle—It is surmised that Louis XVI., on his return from Varennes, is inspired by Champagne at Epernay—Napoleon and his family enjoy the hospitality of Jean Remi Moët—King Jerome of Westphalia’s true prophecy with regard to the Russians and Champagne—Disgraceful conduct of the Prussians and Russians at Epernay in 1814—The Mayor offers them the free run of his cellars—Charles X., Louis Philippe, and Napoleon III. accept the ‘vin d’honneur’ at Epernay—The town occupied by German troops during the war of 1870–1.
Knight, Having a Drink
IFReims be the titular capital of the Champagne wine-trade, Epernay can boast of containing the establishments of some of the most eminent firms engaged therein. Its connection with the production of the wines of Champagne is of the remotest. The vineyards stretchingfor miles around the ancient Sparnacum claim indeed an antiquity far exceeding that of any existing portion of the town itself, which, despite the remote date of its foundation, and the fact that it was a place of considerable importance as early as 445, presents a thoroughly modern aspect. Unlike Reims—so rich in the remains of antiquity—it possesses no mementoes of the days when its lord Eulogius gave it to St. Remi,[428]and he in turn bequeathed it to the Church.
The reason is simple, for the history of Epernay may be briefly summed up in the words—fire, pestilence, and pillage. From the days when misfortune first overtook it, after the division of the Frankish monarchy on the death of Clovis, it has been burnt down on half a dozen occasions, repeatedly depopulated by the plague, and captured and sacked times out of number. The contending sovereigns of Austrasia and Neustria alternately obtained forcible possession of it, and the rival counts of Paris and Vermandois snatched it repeatedly from each other’s hold, like hungry dogs contending for a bone; whilst the Normans, the Hungarians, the vassals of Charles of Lorraine, and the followers of Otho of Germany added their quota to the work of destruction during the long period of anarchy preceding the establishment of the Capetian race upon the throne of France. The founder of the said race, Hugh the Great, distinguished himself in 947 by plundering the town of Epernay, ravaging the surrounding country, and profiting by the fact that it was vintage-time to carry off all the wine of the neighbourhood.[429]
Clergyman, Issuing the Blessing
Even during the epoch of comparative tranquillity which prevailed up to the English invasion, Epernay became from time to time the prey of robber knights like Thomas de Marlé and rebellious nobles like Count John of Soissons; and at the commencement of the thirteenth century Count Thibault of Champagne was fain to burn it, in order to prevent it from serving as a rallying-place for the lords who had risen against Queen Blanche and her infant son Louis IX. After the battle of Poitiers it was pillaged by the partisans of Charles the Bad of Navarre; Edward the Black Prince entered it twice as a conqueror; and John of Gaunt exacted a heavy tribute from it. In the struggles which followed the death of Henry V. of England it was again taken and re-taken, partially burnt and utterly ruined, remaining for three years absolutely depopulated after the unwelcome visit paid it by the Duke of Burgundy in 1432.
Yet during all these ravages the vineyards clothing the slopes around the town were gradually developed, chiefly by the fostering care of the good fathers of the Abbey of St. Martin. The charter of foundation of this abbey, which was endowed in 1032, makes mention of vineyards amongst its possessions, and they are also spoken of in the confirmation of donations and privileges granted by Pope Eugenius III. in 1145. Count Henry of Champagne in 1179 gave the canons of the abbey the hospital of Epernay, with the fields and vineyards belonging to it; and twenty years later, Abbot Guy purchased from Abbot Noah, of the monastery of the Chapelle aux Planches, near Troyes, the fields, vineyards, house, barn, and garden adjoining the ‘ruisseau du Cotheau’ at Epernay for 110 livres. In 1203, Parchasius, a canon of Laon, left by will to the abbey the ‘vigne du Clozet,’ which is still celebrated for the excellence of its products, at Epernay; and in 1217, AbbotTheodoric gave the ‘terres de la Croix Boson’ at Mardeuil to sundry of the inhabitants of that village, on the condition of planting them with vines and paying a yearly rent of fourteen hogsheads of wine obtained therefrom as vinage. Tithes of wine at Oger, Cuis, Cramant, Monthelon, &c., and the vineyards of Genselin, Beaumont, and Montfelix also figure amongst the possessions of the abbey in the thirteenth century.[430]
A certain proportion of the tithes of the ‘fields, meadows, and vineyards’ owned by the abbey at Epernay was assigned to the dependent priory in the faubourg of Igny-le-Jard by Abbot Richard de Cuys in 1365. The cultivation of the grape seems to have been carried on in even the most distant of the numerous possessions of the abbey, which drew ‘rentes de vin’ from Chatillon and Dormans; and in 1373 we find Abbot Gilles de Baronne compelling an unfortunate inhabitant of Romains, near Fismes, to demolish forthwith a wine-press he had dared to erect to the prejudice of the ‘droits seigneuriaux et bannaux’ which the abbey had over that village. The military orders had their share, too; for the Commandery of the Temple at Reims owned at Epernay at the commencement of the fourteenth century a house and some vineyards, still bearing the name of ‘Les Tempières.’ In 1419, Philippe le Maître and his wife left to the curé of Epernay a little vineyard at Montebon to pay for a yearly mass; and at a somewhat later date, Isabelle la Linotte bequeathed to the abbey the vineyard De la Ronce at Mardeuil.[431]
Francis I.FRANCIS I.(From a portrait of the time).
FRANCIS I.(From a portrait of the time).
Indeed, the history of Epernay is most intimately connected with that of its wine, which figures throughout its records as a constant attraction to friends and foes. After the final expulsion of the English, the town gradually recovered its prosperity, and became an appanage of the Dukes of Orleans. At the commencement of the sixteenth century we find Francis I.—to whom it had reverted on the death of Louise of Savoy—presenting it to Claude, Duke of Guise, and the eschevins resolving in 1544 that their new seigneur should be offered ‘twenty poinçons of the best wine that can be found in the cellars of the district, and that after the vintage twenty more of the new crop shall be sent to him.’[432]A levy of one hundred poinçons had already been demanded of them for the camp formed by the King at Rethel two years before; and the various strongholds of the province had been freely supplied with wine exacted from Epernay by the Duke de Longueville, lieutenant-governor of the Champagne.
Charles V.THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.(From a portrait of the time).
THE EMPEROR CHARLES V.(From a portrait of the time).
Charles V. in Avenay
On the advance of Charles V. in 1544, the Dauphin, afterwards Henri II., following the examplesuccessfully set by Anne de Montmorency in Provence, pitilessly sacked the entire district of the Marne, in order that the enemy might find nothing to live on, and stored the product, which included an enormous quantity of wine, in Epernay. The Emperor advanced, meeting with but little opposition, and having taken up his quarters in the Abbey of Avenay, amused himself with building the vendangeoir known as Charles-Fontaine on the adjacent slope, as a testimony of his intention to make, if possible, a permanent sojourn in a province, the vinous products of which he so highly esteemed.[433]But whilst the illustrious patron of Titian and his ‘swarthy grave commanders’ were snugly tippling the choicest vintages contained in the abbey cellars, and his followers camped outside Epernay were waiting for the hour when they should revel at pleasure on the wine stored in the town, their hopes vanished literally in smoke. For Francis, fearing the town would be unable to hold out, had sent word to Captain Sery to burn it, and destroy the accumulated store of provisions, in order to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy. This was accordingly done on the 3d September, and amongst the property consumed were the immense pressoirs of the Abbey of St. Martin. In this conflagration the church of Epernay was no doubt also destroyed, as the handsome Renaissance doorway—the sole ancient portion of the existing edifice—was evidently erected in the latter half of the sixteenth century. The misfortunes of the town did not cease with this calamity, for a great pestilence seems to have marked the return of the inhabitants to their ruined dwellings at the epoch of the following vintage.[434]Five years later, six arpents of the ‘terre de siege’ where the Spaniards had encamped were planted with vines by the Count de Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, and received the name of the Vineyard de la Plante.[435]
Marie StuartMARIE STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
MARIE STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS.
Renaissance DoorwayRENAISSANCE DOORWAY TO THE CHURCH OF EPERNAY.
RENAISSANCE DOORWAY TO THE CHURCH OF EPERNAY.