Like an uncut diamond, the Chardonnay grape lends sparkle to the Ruinart wines. The Ruinart House excels in the art of handling this very special grape variety with its renowned vivacity. Chardonnay, the dominant grape variety used in all Ruinart
cuvées, is the very essence of the Ruinart taste and is the foundation of the Ruinart style. Grown in the
Côte des Blancs and the
Montage de Reims vineyards, the grape lends its inherent finesse, elegance and purity to every Ruinart wine. These Chardonnay-based blends are subtle and vibrant when young, and develop aromatic complexity over time.
This is a bold step on the part of the Ruinart House, since developing Chardonnay-based blends can be a risky business. Chardonnay gives the Ruinart cuvées an exceptional taste indeed, but it requires a unique know-how specific to the House. In fact, the fragility of this grape variety, which is quite difficult to make into wine, and the length of aging required to produce its exceptional body and finesse, once again requires the expertise of the cellar master to reveal the magic of the Ruinart taste. A refined, distinguished taste with clean, light, and pure aromas.
Over time, the exceptional qualities of the Chardonnay grape continue to work inside the Ruinart bottles. This grape variety makes blends, which when consumed young, are both subtle and vibrant and which develop their aromatic complexity over time.
At Ruinart, our non-vintage cuvées, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Ruinart Rosé, age for at least 3 years, which is more than twice the legal time to make Champagne (15 months is the minimum time required). A Dom Ruinart vintage-dated Champagne will age at least 10 years in the cellar.
The remarkable qualities of the Chardonnay grape has given rise to what is commonly called "Goût Ruinart" (that is a unique Champagne defined by elegance and finesse), an inimitable, universally recognized taste.
“A taste with the scent of excellence that has earned Ruinart its position as the aesthete of Champagne, offering sensual pleasure and absolute refinement.”"Ruinart, an initiation into the world of aesthetics"Ruinart's art is to sublimate the raw material and turn it into the finest work of art: exceptional Champagne. Ruinart awakens the sensibilities of Champagne lovers and initiates alike, and reveals to all the expression of Champagne to its finest, most accomplished and perfected form. Ruinart Champagne takes you into a world of sophistication and distinction, in which timeless elegance rubes with the most modern examples of creative daring.
The word 'aesthete' sums up perfectly the spirit of the purity, luminosity and perfection of Ruinart Champagnes, the fundamental characteristics that makes the Ruinart signature. A signature that Ruinart puts in all its wines, all of which comes into the characteristic Ruinart bottle, shaped after the 18th century bottle.
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Dom Thierry Ruinart (1657-1709), a Benedictine Monk in the 17th century (who is buried in the same church as his contemporary Dom Pérignon), was one of the most brilliant minds of his day and a respected theologian. He was the first to predict the importance of Champagne production. On his travels through Europe, he noticed a growing enthusiasm for Champagne in the aristocratic circles of the Royal Courts. His family was a high society Champagne family that was trading wool at the time. Based on his travels and observations Ruinart encouraged his nephew Nicolas to pursue a career in Champagne, but it took a royal decree for the vision to become a reality. 
Over the decades, Ruinart’s fundamental values of authenticity, quality, refinement and openness have fortified its distinctive culture and art, and established its worldwide reputation as a true aesthete in its approach to champagne. Ruinart is a resounding success made possible by the perceptiveness of its initiator, Dom Ruinart, to whom the House paid a tribute in 1959 by creating the historic, prestigious Dom Ruinart vintage.
