André Jullien and the first world classifications of Serbian wines(1816, 1822, and 1832)

Abstract

This paper analyses the first world classifications of Serbian wines based on Andr? Jullien?s famous Topographie de tous les Vignobles connus? published as early as 1816 (18222, 18323). It points to the far-reaching importance of Jullien?s work, clarifies the circumstances of its creation, its methodology, the significance and types of data presented, and, which is particularly important, identifies most of the sources used by the author. Jullien?s Topographie is not a perfect book free of geographical and historical errors, nor does it cover all winegrowing regions in the world. However, it is the first general classification of all wines, both French and ?foreign?, based on fairly clear criteria and written by an experienced and, as it seems, unprejudiced connoisseur. Its importance was recognized immediately after publication, and the global nature of its classification made it the basis for all similar undertakings. The analytical focus in the article is restricted to the territory of the present-day Serbia. In the Ottoman ?province? of Serbia, he singled out the environs of Belgrade as the most important winegrowing region, adding to it the environs of Pristina in the third edition. Wines produced in the eastern Srem (Karlovci) stand out in terms of quality. This overview also includes the winegrowing region of Banat with Vrsac and Bela Crkva (Weisskirchen). In the wine world of that time wines from Srem and Banat were classified as the wines of the Austrian Empire or, more narrowly, as Hungarian wines. Andr? Jullien obviously did not taste any of the mentioned Serbian wines personally. He relied above all on the information available in encyclopaedias, statistic records, geographies and travel accounts. The search for and identification of his sources has shown how thorough, consistent and honest he was in using such data. Undoubtedly, the best Serbian wines were made in and around Karlovci. A sweet red wine, Ausbruch, gained a high repute around the mid-18th century, retaining it into the 20th century. At first, Jullien classified it into the third and then into the exceptionally high second class of all world?s sweet red wines. For example, of all Hungarian wines, only Tokay was rated above it. Karlovci?s semi-sweet and dry wines received the same high second-class rating. Jullien?s classifications of Serbian wines confirmed the continued existence of high-quality winegrowing areas in what is now Serbia, from Roman times to the beginning of the 19th century.