Ruinart "Dom Ruinart" Blanc de Blancs Brut 2013

The Land

Ruinart's prestige blanc de blancs is not a pure Côte des Blancs wine. About 70% of the 2013 comes from Chardonnay in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Chouilly and Bergères-lès-Vertus, where chalk sits just under a thin skin of topsoil and gives the wine its cut and salinity. The other 30% comes from the Montagne de Reims, a Pinot Noir stronghold, drawn from Verzenay, Sillery, Taissy and Villers-Marmery. Those cooler, more northerly sites add breadth and a firmer spine. Every parcel is grand cru or premier cru. The two-region blend is the core of the Dom Ruinart idea: Côte des Blancs precision framed by the structure of the Montagne, built for long aging rather than early charm.

The Wine

Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2013 is 100% Chardonnay, fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel with full malolactic. Rather than a crown cap, the wine spent its time in bottle under cork, only the second Dom Ruinart vintage handled that way after 2010, which slows exchange with the lees and adds a faint smoky, toasty depth. It rested at least nine years on lees, was disgorged by hand, and carries a 5.5 g/L dosage, inside the extra brut range. The 2013 season opened with the coldest first half-year in two decades, pushed flowering into July, and produced one of the latest harvests in 20 years, rescued by a warm, dry September. Expect gold with green glints; toast, almond, ripe wheat, pastry, lemon zest, spring flowers and chalk; then a straight, crystalline palate with citrus and a white-pepper bite that drives the finish. The house suggests another seven to ten years in the cellar.

The People

Ruinart, founded in Reims in 1729 by Nicolas Ruinart, is the oldest established Champagne house. His uncle, Dom Thierry Ruinart, was a Benedictine monk and scholar whose interest in the new sparkling wine of Champagne inspired the venture. The house ages its wines in crayères, chalk quarries cut beneath Reims in Roman times and now part of Champagne's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Chardonnay is Ruinart's signature grape, and Dom Ruinart is its purest statement. Under cellar master Frédéric Panaïotis, the cuvée returned to aging under cork beginning with 2010. In a late, cool year like 2013, this is as complete a case for long-aged blanc de blancs Champagne as the house has made.

Food Pairing

Start with Kusshi oysters on the half shell, where the brine meets the chalk in the wine. Pan-roasted turbot with a classic beurre blanc lets the acidity slice through the butter while the toasty lees character echoes the browned skin. A silky parsnip velouté finished with brown butter plays the wine's almond and pastry tones against earthy sweetness. Warm Gruyère gougères make the easy opening move. Save this bottle for the night you want to mark properly, the anniversary or the long-awaited promotion, and open it a half hour before anyone sits down.