The prestige cuvée of Champagne Ruinart, Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs is a Grand Cru only, pure-Chardonnay blend. With grapes sourced predominantly from the Côte des Blancs, this cuvée is a firm and muscular champagne with a reductive style that rewards patience if left in the cellar. The 1998 vintage, originally considered very good, has continuously been reappraised over the years and as a consequence is now considered an excellent vintage, producing champagnes with incredible ageing potential.

Weather: The 1998 vintage shows all the hallmarks of a truly outstanding year. The features of the vintage were a high natural sugar content in the grapes and an excellent level of acidity, indicating an exceptional overall balance and long ageing potential.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Ageing: 12 years on the lees
Disgorged: 2010
Dosage: 6.5 g/l
Drink: Now to 2026

Tasting Note: Fine bubble and hints of citrus fruit on the nose. On the palate this champagne is quite rich: a very expressive and complex wine. Intense on the mid-palate and with very good length, this is still very youthful - especially from magnum.

We acquired these magnums directly from MHUK in April 2015 when a second release was announced. The magnums are stunning: something happens with champagne aged in magnum, their evolution slows and it's like a little magic is sprinkled. Factors come into play that we can't always explain and what was a superbly rich champagne seems even more developed and complex. If you enjoy Dom Ruinart, you have to experience the same champagne in magnum. It's differently amazing.

The 1.5L magnums of Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 1998 are presented in a high-quality branded gift box as shown in the bottom left picture.

Although not the oldest wine estate in the region, Ruinart holds the title of the oldest established Champagne House. Dom Thierry Ruinart, friend and confidant of Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon, foretold that the new "wine with bubbles" being developed in his native region of Champagne was destined for a bright future and encouraged his nephew Nicolas Ruinart to enter the trade. When Louis XV declared that champagne could henceforth be sold in bottles instead of barrels, Nicolas heeded his uncle's advice and founded Champagne Ruinart in 1729.

Famed for their affinity for the white-grape variety, Chardonnay dominates the blend in all of Ruinart's finest cuvées, even their prestige rosé. Favouring the reductive style, they use a pneumatic press to guard the juice against oxidation and deploy nitrogen gas to protect the wine at every production stage. They are also adverse to oak and vinify all of their wines in stainless-steel tanks. Cosmopolitan and savvy, Ruinart produce approachable, muscular and vinous champagnes that deserve recognition beyond the trade industry within which they are currently most well-known.

The longest-established Champagne house of all, Ruinart has an affinity with chardonnay's freshness, finesse and elegance and all of its finest cuvées lead with this variety, even its prestige rosé. ""We hate oxygen!"" declares Frederic Panaïotis, Chef de Cave; Ruinart use a pneumatic press to guard the juice against oxidation and nitrogen gas to protect the wine at every production stage. They are also adverse to oak; vinification only takes place in stainless steel. This meticulous attention to detail along with the distinctive rounded bottles, give Ruinart its well-deserved reputation. Ruinart's Crayeres were dug by hand - the deepest measuring 38 meters in height beneath the vault - and their numerous tunnels criss-cross over a length of more than eight kilometres.

Cellar Master: Frédéric Panaïotis
Winery Location: Reims | Champagne, France
Champagne Region: Montagne de Reims
Annual Production (bottles): Undisclosed