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.

Dom Ruinart 2010 marks a major step in the winemaking process with the return of a once common practice: cork stoppers for ageing on lees. This process has been trialled by the cellarmasters of Ruinart since the 1998 vintage. On tasting these first trials ten years on, the difference was significant: the bottles with corks revealed tenser wine with an additional layer of complexity. Although cork is porous, over a long period of time, it remains extremely stable while metal caps allow small amounts of oxygen to continually enter the bottle. After manual disgorging, necessary for Champagne aged under cork, a tiny amount of liqueur is then added for roundness. With just 4 grams of sugar per litre, Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010 is Extra Brut.

Weather: The 2010 harvest was marked by a very cold winter with heavy frost patches. Weather improved in the spring and early summer months with cool and consistent temperatures. During August and September storms and humid conditions complicated the ripening process and much of the Pinot Noir being thin skinned largely succumbed to rot. Dom Perignon's vineyards in the Grand Cru village of Verzenay produced some outstanding Pinot Noir, but there weren't many examples of great PN from 2010. By contrast Chardonnay was super high quality, one of the best Chardonnay years within the last ten years.

Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Grand Cru | 90% Côte des Blancs: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger | 10% Montagne de Reims: Puisieulx & Sillery
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay
Lees Ageing: 9 years
Disgorged: March 2020
Dosage: 4 g/l
Alcohol: 12.5%
Drink: Now to 2034+

Tasting Note: Really deep flavoured. Very obviously more depth of flavour and tension than the 2009 Dom Ruinart. The cork ageing does seem to enhance the savoury, reduced character reminiscent of white burgundy. Very long with lemon notes. A truly exciting wine that is still extremely youthful. - Tasted by Jancis Robinson MW

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