Caroline Fiot at Ruinart HQ in Reims, one of Ruinart's team of three winemakers
The text of this article was first published in The World of Fine Wine issue 63
It was Caroline Fiot, one of Champagne’s brightest young winemakers, who was
dispatched to London recently to introduce the latest release of Dom Ruinart
Blanc de Blancs alongside its predecessor: thus 2007, the 25th vintage since the
debut 1959, and 2006. Neither year is regarded as anywhere near a five-star
vintage for the region as a whole, but, as always in Champagne’s defining
marginal climate, the higher up the quality echelons you go, the more variations
and exceptions can be expected – and as we tasted and discussed, it emerged
that these two are not the only recent deviations from the region’s vintage
norms. There will be no Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2008. Shock horror? The
reason, Caroline Fiot explains, is that: “It was more of a Pinot Noir vintage. The
Chardonnays were quite austere.” As Dom Ruinart contains a varying but always
pivotal proportion of Chardonnay from the Montagne de Reims, the potential for
austerity is likely to have been greater.
So, no 2008 Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, but there will be some 2010. Shock
horror again: this was a promising vintage famously savaged by August rains.
But crucially it was the thin-skinned Pinot Noir grapes that succumbed far more
readily to rot. On to 2012: like 2008, an outstanding vintage, but there will be no
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. Sho... No, I shan’t say it again.
Back to 2006 and 2007 and a quick resumé of the two contrasting growing
seasons. Despite several spring frosts and a cold, wet August, 2006 was a warm
year with a notable heatwave in July and a hot, sunny opening fortnight to
September. The harvest officially started on September 7 and was prolonged;
sugar levels were high, acidities a little low. The following year, after a far from
promising summer, the harvest start-date was 23 August, at the time the second
earliest after 2003. Spring had been sunny and very warm, leading to an early
flowering, but June, July and most of August were gloomy and rainy. Nonetheless,
grapes that resisted rot ripened to respectable sugar levels with good acidities.
Among the key non-variables for Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs are 100% Grands
Crus and a significant proportion of Montagne de Reims Chardonnay – an
average of a third but varying from 25 percent (2007) to 37 percent (2006).
Other fixed features are reductive winemaking in stainless steel and no oak,
keeping the house’s focus on aromatic purity; full malolactic fermentation to give
roundness but emphatically not buttery flavors; nine to ten years on lees; and
low dosage (precise figures given with the tasting notes below). One change
coming with the 2010 vintage onwards is ageing on cork (and disgorgement, of
necessity, à la volée). After trials, Ruinart has concluded that, while crown cap is
better for its non-vintage, cork is better for Dom Ruinart.
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2006
63% Côtes des Blancs (predominantly Chouilly, Le Mesnil and Avize), 37% from
the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims (predominantly Sillery and
Puisieulx). Potential degree 10.2º; total acidity 6.9g; dosage 4.5g/l; disgorged
July 2015
A more toasted nose than a bottle tasted only six and a half months earlier. After
the waft of toasted wheat and nuts, there’s crème brûlée and lively ginger, citrus
and ripe apricot. The palate is ample – opulent even – and silky in texture, with
toasty richness, a savory, almost meaty note entwined with sweet peach and
pear fruit followed by lingering orange-zest freshness and chalkiness. The toasty
evolution is part of Dom Ruinart’s DNA and unoaked beauty, and I like this 2006,
but its weight and toastiness, and the difference from the bottle last tasted,
surprise me. It is, I’m sure, a reflection of the high sugar and lowish acidity of the
year.
93
Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 2007
75% Côtes des Blancs (Chouilly, Le Mesnil, Oger and Avize), 25% from the
northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims (predominantly Sillery and
Verzenay). Potential degree 9.3º; total acidity 8.6g; dosage 5g/l; disgorged
September 2017
The Ruinart team is “not at ease talking about bubbles because it’s so complex”,
but I can’t resist mentioning their finesse and persistence (also in the 2006). The
colour here is pale but marginally deeper (perhaps reflecting the longer time on
lees?) and the nose is very different – penetratingly steely, flinty, ocean spray
and lime zest aromas softened by delicate leafiness and white flowers. The
palate, crystalline, taut and intense, has oystershell savory notes, citrus intensity,
a chalk-dust fine texture and incisive, rapier-like acidity. Left in the glass, a little
peach, sweet pear and clotted cream emerge. A Champagne of great purity
assured of a long and distinguished life.
95
Photographs by Joanna Simon