It was a dry summer in 2009 in Champagne country and it was a very good year with that rainless summer that was not too hot. It followed on the heels of a difficult springtime with hail, cold, winds and rains all coming down and around as the grapevines were beginning to flower. But then the elements ushered in a radiant summer but temperatures were not too high. And so when the harvest began in the middle of September, the grapes had ripened in ideal conditions. It was this sunshine and cooler temperatures that developed the aromatic quality of the grapes, qualities that the house of Ruinart carefully looks out for. The resulting champagne was as radiant as the sun that had ripened the grapes. Dom Ruinart Rosé 2009 was born, instantly becoming one of the house’s great vintage champagnes in a year described as solar in Champagne country. « It was a year of extremes for wines with a lively and dynamic balance, » commented Ruinart’s cellar master Frédéric Panaïotis. 

This year Ruinart has revealed its Dom Ruinart Rosé 2009, the 21st vintage rosé named in honor of Dom Thierry Ruinart, the man who would already in the 17th century inspire the house and its descendants. The champagne has been elaborated with wines from the finest growing region in Champagne. Chardonnay accounts for 85% of the champagne’s composition with 82% from the Côte des Blancs and 18% grown on the Montagne de Reims. The Pinot Noir accounts for the remaining 15% of the champagne’s composition and has the distinction of emanating from a single cru from the town of Aÿ. And so the hallmarks of the house are all there: the elegance and finesse of the Chardonnay and the just enough structure from the Pinot Noir. The champagne was aged for some 12 years sur lattes, which means they were stored horizontally on wooden battens, in Ruinart’s deep, natural chalk cellars beneath the city of Reims. The champagne is both spicy and enjoys floral notes of iris and violet. It clearly can be enjoyed with spicy fish or poultry dishes. The house of Ruinart was founded in 1729 and is regarded as the oldest of the champagne houses.  It is renowned for its expertise in using the Chardonnay grape variety, the house’s hallmark. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.ruinart.com