France · Champagne

Ruinart

Ruinart is the oldest Champagne house, established in 1729 by Nicolas Ruinart and now owned by LVMH. The house is the foundational Blanc de Blancs specialist in Champagne, though Dom Ruinart—the prestige cuvée—is a vintage-dated, single-cru Chardonnay wine that commands the highest secondary-market prices. Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs averages $238 across 75 lots, with prices reaching $2,868—likely large formats or back-vintages from exceptional years such as 2002, 1996, or 1988. The Dom Ruinart Brut is a rarer auction wine at $738 average across 14 lots, reflecting its scarcity versus the Blanc de Blancs. The non-vintage Blanc de Blancs at $341 average across 10 lots and NV Brut at $165 represent the standard house range. Portfolio average of $278 across 184 lots reflects Dom Ruinart's premium positioning: the house sits below Krug and Salon in the Champagne prestige hierarchy but above most vintage-focused growers in brand recognition and distribution scale. LVMH ownership has invested in Ruinart's 18th-century crayères chalk caves—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—providing both a visitor experience and optimal ageing conditions for extended lees maturation. The Dom Ruinart 2002 and 1990 are the most sought-after single vintages in the secondary market. The house's sustained investment in long lees maturation for Dom Ruinart, combined with the historic crayères ageing environment, contributes measurably to the wine's complexity and longevity relative to comparably priced prestige cuvées.