Sermiers

Location

Sermiers lies about 16 kilometres south of Reims on the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims. The commune in the Marne département belongs to the arrondissement of Reims and the canton of Fismes-Montagne de Reims. Sermiers includes several hamlets: besides the main village, there are Nogent, Courtaumont, Montaneuf and Petit Fleury. Its neighbours include Villers-Allerand, Chamery, Germaine and Saint-Imoges. In 2023 the population was 564, and the inhabitants are known as Sarmates.

The landscape is shaped by forest: in 2018, 65.7 per cent of the land was woodland and semi-natural areas, 21.7 per cent was arable land and 12.6 per cent was permanent crops, which include the vines. The Ardre, a 39-kilometre tributary of the Vesle, also rises in the southern part of the commune.

Viticulture

Sermiers farms 164 hectares within the Champagne appellation. The village is neither a grand cru nor a premier cru commune, but it stands for everyday Champagne away from the big names: small winegrowing villages on the wooded flanks of the Montagne de Reims. The climate is oceanic and rather cool. The nearest weather station, in Mailly-Champagne, recorded an average of 11.2 °C and a little over 755 millimetres of rainfall a year for 1991 to 2020. Such conditions are typical of the region and help explain the fresh acidity of many champagnes.

“The nearest weather station, in Mailly-Champagne, recorded an average of 11.2 °C and a little over 755 millimetres of rainfall a year for 1991 to 2020.

History

The name goes back to the Sarmatians, who are said to have settled here under Roman influence. The village first appears in writing around 850 as Sarmedum. Today's village grew out of the merging of five older communities. From the Middle Ages the landlords included the Abbey of Saint-Denis in Reims and the archbishopric. The Abbey of Saint-Nicaise and the Hôtel-Dieu of Reims owned parcels of woodland. There is no evidence of serfdom: Sermiers was a free village, although without a charter of liberties. Its present unity was finally consolidated with the French Revolution, which abolished the feudal lordships.

Legal notice

Sights

• Church of Saint-Simon-et-Saint-Jude
• several wayside crosses in the fields
• a former farm that now serves as a restaurant

The village makes a quiet starting point for walks through woods and vines. The commune has also produced an artistic figure in the sculptor François Bouché, born in Sermiers in 1924 and died in Marseille in 2005.

For the Connoisseur

If you want to explore the Montagne de Reims, Sermiers is an unfussy stop between vineyards and forest. Reims, with its great houses, is about 16 kilometres away, and the commune itself lies within the city's sphere of influence.