Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
The house's prestige bottle, made exclusively from grand cru chardonnay and released by vintage. Freshly baked bread, chestnut, and flint, with bubbles so fine that you feel them rather than see them.
What grand cru chardonnay does to a bottle
Dom Ruinart is the prestige line of the house, and the Blanc de Blancs is its white wine: one hundred percent chardonnay, exclusively from grand cru vineyards in the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. While the chardonnay proportion in the house's other bottles provides freshness, here it is the entire structure. There is no pinot noir alongside it to round things out, so everything you taste comes from that single grape.
This is also a vintage champagne: not a continuous blend, but a separate bottle for each harvest, such as the 2013 vintage currently being served. That explains its character. While a young chardonnay smells of citrus and white flowers, this one has developed into freshly baked bread and chestnut, with iris and flint underneath. Full-bodied and mineral at the same time, this is a bottle that asks you to sit down for a moment.
In brief
Bread, chestnut, and flint
Baked bread & iris
Freshly baked bread and chestnut come first, followed by coconut. Underneath are iris, citrus, and a distinct flint note.
Refined and mineral
Refined, mineral, and full-bodied at the same time. The bubbles are incredibly fine and feel more like a veil than a fizz, giving the wine a creamy texture.
Long and subtle
Long and subtle, with dried citrus and a slight quinine bitterness that balances the fresh acidity. That bitterness is exactly what makes the bottle finish so well.
The flavor profile of Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs neat. Vintages differ from one another; bread, chestnut, and flint are the consistent notes in this bottle.
Pour this bottle neat
Pour at 8 to 10 degrees, but not ice-cold: with this champagne, everything is in the aroma, which only opens up once the wine is allowed to warm a few degrees in the glass. Fill it to about halfway and give it time.
From a wine glass
Pour 10 cl into a large white wine glass. More surface area means more aroma, and with bread, chestnut and flint, there is plenty to smell. The delicate bubbles also linger for a long time in a spacious glass.
Wine glasses →As an aperitif
The bottle is mentioned with the aperitif. Pour about 12 cl per glass, keep it to simple snacks and avoid strong sauces: anything with a lot of acidity or salt cuts straight through the mineral finish.
Glass: spacious bowl →Not in a cocktail
Mixing this would be a waste. If you want a Kir Royal or a French 75, use the R de Ruinart or another simple brut; the cassis or gin will overpower what this bottle has to offer anyway.
To the R de Ruinart →Champagne cocktails, with another bottle
Honestly, this champagne is best served neat. The classics below are still fun, but call for a simpler brut, because the liqueur or juice takes center stage.
French 75
Gin, lemon and syrup shaken together and topped with bubbles. A dry brut is more than sufficient here.
Bellini
Peach purée topped with bubbles. The fruit does the work, so keep the bottle simple.
Mimosa
Equal parts orange juice and bubbles. Of all cocktails, this one deserves the cheapest bottle.
Champagne Cocktail
A sugar cube with bitters at the bottom, topped up slowly. The bitters take over from any champagne.Which glass does this champagne deserve?
With a matured blanc de blancs, the nose is half the story, so give it room. A large wine glass or a wide bowl lets the bread and flint come through; a narrow flute keeps the bubbles neatly in place but holds the aroma in.
More Ruinart flavors
Ruinart
Where it all began. On the brand page, you can read everything about Ruinart: its origins, varieties and classic cocktails.
Go to Ruinart →
R de Ruinart
The house's only bottle made with all three grapes. Stone fruit and almond, with a fresh finish.
View R de Ruinart →
Ruinart Rosé
Guava, lychee and raspberry, with mint and pink grapefruit behind them. The color comes from 18% red still wine.
View Ruinart Rosé →
Dom Ruinart Rosé
Pomegranate, blood orange and violet on a chardonnay base. The house's prestige rosé.
View Dom Ruinart Rosé →Questions about Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
Can't find your question here? Read more on the Ruinart page or browse our cocktail recipes.
Everything about Ruinart →