Ruinart 'R de Ruinart' Brut

What to expect - The calling card; R de Ruinart Champagne shows the fresh style of the house - Blended across 50 different villages across Champagne - Pair with warm crusty bread, soft cheese and pear slices "The red apple of pinot noir meets the grapefruit of chardonnay, set against a backdrop of spicy, toasty gingerbread lees complexity. On first release, this was a particularly pure and focused R de Ruinart, with subtle wisps of the struck-flint reduction of the house, something I’ve not seen in this cuvée in the past, which Frédéric Panaïotis puts down to the purity of the blend today. A year on, the phenolic grip of the warm 2015 season is beginning to sink its claws in as it sheds its primary freshness. Nonetheless, it upholds good acid drive and integrity." Tyson Stelzer An easy way to start off your champagne session. Technical details: 40% chardonnay, 49% pinot noir, 11% meunier; a blend of around 50 different crus, including a little from the Côte des Bar; full malolactic fermentation; 20–25% reserves; 8g/L dosage; cork; 60% of the production of the house, hence more than 1.5 million bottles. About the House "Fréderic Panaïotis grew up between his grandparents’ chardonnay vines in Champagne, and the variety remains close to his heart, making him very much at home as chef de cave at Ruinart since 2007. The longest-established champagne house of all has an affinity with chardonnay’s freshness, finesse and elegance, and all of its finest cuvées lead with this variety, even its prestige rosé. Without the might of Moët & Chandon, the brand impact of Veuve Clicquot or the cachet of Krug, Ruinart lurks as the low-profile member of the Louis Vuitton–Moët Hennessy family. On Reims’ famed Rue de Crayères, its premises hide behind the grand street presence of Pommery and Veuve Clicquot. This is just as Panaïotis would have it. ‘In France we have a saying, if you live underground, you live happy!’ he says. But on its performance, Ruinart has no need to lie low. Its cuvées are pure and pitch-perfect, singing with the crystalline precision of chardonnay." Tyson Stelzer - The Champagne Guide 2018-2019 Food Pairing suggestion Keep it simple here with some light foods, fresh bread, soft cheese and perhaps fresh apple and pear.