Mary's Wine Blog

Champagne’s ability magically to lift morale is well established. And, to a lucky group of Dublin diners, recently reinforced. To introduce the champagnes of the fine old house of Ruinart to a a new audience, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud laid on a glorious gala dinner on 29 April.  There were more smiling faces in one room than our doom-laden capital has seen for months.  That says something about Ruinart – and about the exceptional wine-matching skills of chef Guillaume Lebrun whose ethereal dishes made all four champagnes taste even more impressive than they had seemed when sampled solo in the afternoon.

The wines were introduced by Ruinart’s international director, Patrick Shelley (from Tipperary). The house style is firmly focused on Chardonnay – and just as well, given that blanc de blancs champagnes are growing in popularity in spite of the recession. Although not always a blanc de blancs fan, I was greatly taken with both the zesty, charming non-vintage and the rich but refreshing Dom Ruinart vintage 1998. (Served in a white Burgundy glass, it tasted remarkably close to that wine in style).

These were also my favourites at dinner, the NV perfect with a Basque pepper terrine with goat’s cheese and fennel confit and the vintage shining with roast turbot set off by carrot with star anise and a seaweed butter. (Daft-sounding, maybe, but divine).  The roses weren’t far behind, with Dom Ruinart Rose 1996 especially memorable with a ginger bavarois whose flavours were delicately lifted by watermelon ‘lemonade’ and a yuzu sorbet.

Producing just 4 million bottles a year, Ruinart is a smallish house whose lofty reputation rests on fastidious methods – including long ageing of its champagnes before release. It’s a niche brand worth bearing in mind for special occasions. My guess is that the non-vintage blanc de blancs will do particularly well in Ireland – not least because its clear bottle in 18th-century shape is instantly recognisable. And, no, light can’t harm the precious liquid. The glass has a special coating. Phew.