🍾 Ruinart Brut

Ruinart Brut is a non-vintage white Champagne in the Brut style from the house Ruinart in Reims (Marne).

According to the house, the blend is Pinot Noir (40–45 %), Chardonnay (40 %) and Meunier (10–15 %) from 40–50 crus of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims, with 20–30 % reserve wines. It ages 2–3 years in the cellars, the dosage is 7 g/l and the alcohol content is 12 %.

The house Ruinart was founded on 1 September 1729 in Reims by Nicolas Ruinart; its cellars lie in old chalk pits (crayères). According to the house, Chardonnay is its signature grape and appears in all its cuvées.

The boundaries of the Champagne area were set by a law of 6 May 1919: parts of the Marne, Aube, Aisne, Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne departments. The designation’s specification allows seven grape varieties, dominated by Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; grapes are picked as whole bunches, that is by hand, and the yield is limited to 10,400 kg per hectare.

According to the Comité Champagne, Champagne is served chilled to 8–10 °C, and bottles are kept in the dark at a steady 10–15 °C, without vibration. An opened bottle is best closed with a sparkling-wine stopper and kept cold.

It is sold under the protected designation of origin Champagne: the bubbles come only from a second fermentation in the bottle, and the wine is aged for at least 15 months before sale (36 for vintage). Brut on the label is an EU sugar term: less than 12 g of sugar per litre.

Why it matters to you. No year on the label means it is not a vintage wine: the house may blend wines from different harvests. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.