Dom Thierry Ruinart was a highly respected Benedictine monk who left his home of Champagne to reside in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés – closer to his king, Louis the 14th, as well as the aristocracy of Paris. There was a “new wine with bubbles” making its way through high society, and Thierry reported back to his nephew, Nicolas Ruinart, all of the buzz surrounding this fashionable new beverage. A few years later, in 1729, Nicolas founded Maison Ruinart – the world’s first ever Champagne-producing company.

This exceptional cuvée is made exclusively from Grand Cru chardonnay – some 90% of the final blend coming from revered Côte des Blancs’ legends like Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Chouilly, and Cramant, with the final 10% hailing from Sillery in the Montagne de Reims. For this top cuvée, the Ruinart team has returned to the ancient art of aging under cork – rather than the modern crown capsule (bottle cap) employed by the vast majority of producers. This lends a better aromatic quality to the finished wine, but is vastly more expensive and time consuming… which is why the practice is almost unheard of today. No fancy machine exists to disgorge a wine that ages on the lees under cork, so every last bottle (a serious undertaking for a large house like Ruinart) is disgorged by hand, in the à la volée method. A precise, Extra Brut dosage of just 4 g/liter keeps this laser focused, yet as complex and layered as Champagne gets!

The wine is an aromatic tapestry of grassy, floral, citrus, and mineral sensations – lemon verbena, acacia and chamomile flowers, preserved lemons, wet slate and crumbled chalk… so intense, wondrously complex… wow! The immensity of this wine continues on the palate – as wild and yeasty flavors incite a wave of forest duff, golden apples, pluots, sourdough boules, white pepper, fig leaf, hazelnuts, rye crackers, and on and on it goes! Just a wonder to behold, I finished my glass 30 minutes ago and it still feels like I’m tasting it! Incredible stuff – but very, very limited! Less than five cases available – and whoever is lucky enough to snag this… please invite me over for dinner! I’ll cook! I’ll clean! Let’s discuss…

Cheers!