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Picardy
Cerise de Sauvigny
Only two producers remain in Reuilly-Sauvigny to pick the cherry that once made the fortune of Picard confectioners and jam makers.
Fruit from Picardy.
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Picardy
Only two producers remain in Reuilly-Sauvigny to pick the cherry that once made the fortune of Picard confectioners and jam makers.
Fruit from Picardy.
AI-generated illustration
Certain areas of Picardie have long boasted terroirs renowned for their fruit trees, and in particular their cherry trees. The cherry trees of the Morienval area (Oise) and those around Neuilly-sous-Clermont, Baboeuf, Noyon, and Liancourt, also in the Oise, were mentioned by Prefect Cambry as early as 1803. Published in 1873, the Primes d'honneur des concours régionaux confirmed this vocation of the Picard terroir for cherry production: they singled out producers from Noyon, Clermont, and Liancourt, while the judges also noted that, in the neighbouring Aisne, cherry trees were numerous in the valleys of Fourdrain, Saint-Erme, Outre, and Ramecourt. At the time, the fruit was mostly destined for England or the Parisian market.
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It was at the beginning of the 20th century that the cerise de Sauvigny came to prominence. Highly sought after by distillers and confectioners, its price could reach up to 80 or 120 francs per 100 kilograms on the tree, according to a 1906 report on the trade in agricultural produce. In his work Voyage en France, Haute-Picardie, Champagne rémoise et Ardennes, published in 1904, Ardouin-Dumazet noted that it was in the Château-Thierry region, 'along the Marne and adjacent valleys', that its cultivation expanded significantly, giving rise to a thriving local preserving industry, centred in particular on Dormans, a small Champagne commune bordering Picardie.
Today, only two producers still cultivate the cerise de Sauvigny in Reuilly-Sauvigny, the Aisne commune that gave this variety its name. It was gradually replaced in the orchards of the Aisne by varieties more in demand as dessert fruit — bigarreau burlat, napoléon, géant d'Hedelsingen — reflecting demand that had turned towards table fruit rather than fruit for processing. To make harvesting easier, the trees of these modern varieties are trained as low-stem trees, whereas the Sauvigny cherry tree is grown as a high-stem tree; furthermore, these varieties reach full production after only four to five years, compared with ten years for the cerise de Sauvigny.
Appearance
Spherical fruit, rather large, with thin skin of a more or less intense red.
Taste
Highly acidic flesh, not very sweet — only 6 to 10% sugar.
Texture
Juicy flesh.
flowering takes place in the second half of April, and harvesting spans the month of July.
achieved only after ten years, compared with four to five years for more recent dessert varieties.
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The cerise de Sauvigny is mainly used in baking and for preserves — jams foremost among them, heirs to the family-run industry that once flourished around Château-Thierry and Dormans —, although some also appreciate its acidity as table fruit. It is a variant of the Montmorency, the family of tart cherries traditionally intended for processing rather than fresh consumption.
The cerise de Sauvigny bears no official quality mark (PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP), Label Rouge): it is an ancient fruit variety, not an appellation governed by specifications. Its sole recognition is its inclusion in Slow Food's Arche du Goût, which catalogues food products threatened with extinction — here on the grounds that only two producers remain to cultivate it.
No producer is listed for this product yet.