Today on The Friday Bubble Essi Avellan Master of wine and Nick Baker discuss Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010 . The new releases season is in full swing and today another great new vintage is Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2010 and with a subtle style shift this is one I would recommend you try, it is super delicious! The changes with this vintage of Dom Ruinart are mainly with the closure during second fermentation in the bottle, historically a crown cap (as on beer bottles) was seen as the most reliable closure & could be disgorged/removed by machine. Research has proven that a cork during second fermentation forms a tighter seal and hence is better at keeping oxygen ingress to a minimum and cork being “bark on a tree” adds some of its own “cork impact.” These are small extractions from the cork to the wine, typically a positive impact on texture in the champagne. Being sealed by cork does mean the bottles have to be hand disgorged, ideal since it is a chance to check for any negative cork impact like “cork taint” before it receives dosage and the final cork.
A tighter closure is helpful at promoting the reductive style and with oxygen kept “more away” from the liquid you get a more fruit driven champagne. I often use terms “purity” and this is exactly what I describe, the absence of oxygen in reductive winemaking keeps the wines pure and the fruit character at its freshest. The negative side of oxygen in reductive winemaking is it “eats/oxidises the fruit” hence this step seems to show a further step up in quality.
Great scores: Jancis Robinson MW 17.5+/20. Antonio Galloni 97+/100
