Ruinart Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne

SKU #1024252 92 points Wine & Spirits

Heady scents of Middle Eastern spices and Key lime brighten the creamy flavors of this wine. The acidity cuts it with the severity of yellow grapefruit while the richness lasts on depths of lobster broth. It's an ornate Blanc de Blancs, a fragrant wine to pour with a plateau des fruits de mer. (12/ 2012)

92 points Wine Enthusiast

White flower and pear aromas offer a wine that is mineral, nervy, vibrating with the freshest white fruits and lemon juice. It is concentrated, showing strong signs of toast, mature flavors, while keeping great richness. (12/ 2010)

92 points Wine Spectator

Smoky and focused, with an intensity to the racy acidity and tightly knit flavors of white peach, chamomile, crystallized honey, pickled ginger and pink peppercorn. Exhibits lovely texture and offers a long, mineral-tinged finish. Drink now through 2020. (11/ 2012)

90 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

This is a fabulous version of Ruinart’s NV Brut Blanc de Blancs. The wine seems fresher, more vibrant and less obviously sweet than in the past, all of which makes this a far more interesting wine. The trademark profile of lemon, jasmine and green apples is very much in the forefront while the wine’s textural finesse and length are both first-class. This release of the NV Brut makes a great introduction to the wines of Ruinart, Champagne’s oldest house. (11/ 2011)

90 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Light, bright yellow. Aromas and flavors of lemon curd, yellow apple and honey, with a floral topnote. Plump and expansive, with a powerful finish marked by smoky mineral and brioche notes. This bottling seems to have become richer in recent years but it still shows the energy that I associate with Ruinart. (12/ 2012)

K&L Notes

Ruinart is one of Champagne's oldest houses, founded by Nicholas Ruinart in 1729, himself a descendent of Dom Thierry Ruinart, the other "Dom" responsible for so much of the early viticultural progress of the appellation. Only Gosset is older, but apparently Ruinart was first to base his business on sparkling, rather than still Champagne. This Blanc de Blancs is made exclusively from Grand and Premier Cru Chardonnay, much of which is estate fruit from the biggest land holder in all of Champagne: Ruinart's parent company LVMH. The feature that sets this stainless steel fermented wine apart from other Blanc de Blancs is the combination of grapes from both the Côtes de Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, giving it a more rounded style. I find some chalky minerality in this Champagne, but also lychee fruit and texture. It seems sweeter than the claimed dosage of 8 grams per liter. (Gary Westby, K&L Champagne buyer)