Frédric Panaïotis grew up between his grandparent’s chardonnay vines in Champagne and chardonnay remains close to his heart, making him right at home as chef de cave at Ruinart. The longest established champagne house of all has an affinity with chardonnay’s freshness, finesse and elegance, and all of its best cuvées lead with the 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 Reim’s famed Rue de Crayères, its premises hides behind the grand street presence of Pommery and Veuve Clicquot. Its low profile is just as Panaïotis would have it. “In France we have a saying, if you live underground, you live happy!” he says. But on the strength of its current cuvées, Ruinart has no need to lay low.

Champagne is planted to just twenty-eight percent chardonnay, making this the rarest of the region’s threekey varieties, and the most difficult to source. Ruinart owns just ten percent of its vineyards, includinglongstanding resources of fifteen hectares of chardonnay at Sillery and Puisieulx on the eastern slopes of theMontagne de Reims, providing a richer and rounder style than the Côte des Blancs. Long-term contracts withgrowers form the vast bulk of Ruinart’s supplies, supplemented in recent times through vineyards acquiredfrom Lanson and Joseph Perrier. This has enabled the house to increase its annual production from 1.4million to more than 2.5 million bottles over the past two decades.

Ruinart’s distinctive rounded bottles make riddling challenging and the house relies exclusively on gyropalettes, which Panaïotis claims give a better result by far. The clear glass of these bottles makes the wine susceptible to lightstruck degradation, making it vital that they are stored in the dark.

Ruinart has occupied its premises in Reims since 1768 and it was the first in Champagne to use the third century Roman Crayères (chalk mines) under the city to age its champagnes. Its location on top of the hill make its eight kilometres of cellars some of the deepest and most spectacular in Champagne, plunging to depths of up to thirty-eight metres. These are the only cellars in Champagne classified as a national monument. A distinguished home for such graceful champagnes.