🍾 Ruinart

Ruinart is a Champagne house in Reims, in the Marne department. According to the house, on 1 September 1729 Nicolas Ruinart drew up its founding charter, creating what the house calls the first company set up to make champagne. The idea is credited to his uncle, the Benedictine monk Dom Thierry Ruinart (1657–1709), who encountered sparkling wine in Paris. In 1764, the house says, it shipped its first rosé champagne, and in 1817 the family was ennobled as Ruinart de Brimont.

In the mid-18th century the house acquired ancient chalk pits (crayères) beneath Reims to store its bottles; according to the house, its historic cellars are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The range includes R de Ruinart, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Rosé and the prestige Dom Ruinart. The house refers to LVMH as its parent company.

Champagne is a wine with a protected designation of origin (PDO). The bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage), and all production takes place only within the delimited area. Ruinart is a brand; Champagne is the name of a place.

Why it matters to you. Blanc de blancs on the label means a wine made only from white grapes; “R” or “Dom Ruinart” are the house’s own names, not categories set by the rules. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.