Bubbly

A trip to France is not complete without alcohol. Besides the physical drink itself, we also made our way to Reims, the champagne region of France to find out more about our favourite champagne brand - Ruinart. We stumbled upon Ruinart's champagne quite unintentionally when we used to dine at Jaan par Andre. One sip and we were both blown over. Since that fateful day, no other champagnes can take the place of Ruinart in our heart.

Another reason why we were keen to visit Ruinart was because it is just so hard and expensive to buy Ruinart here in Singapore. A last check with Decanter @ St. Regis, a normal rose will cost you more than S$300 a bottle and a flute is easily more than S$50.

I made an appointment with Ruinart quite some time ago and apparently, they have very limited tours. And what I like most about this champagne tasting tour is that they keep the group very small and unlike some other champagne houses where the tasting takes place at a bar-like setting, Ruinart got the participants to sit in a small cosy room and we started discussing about champagne; from how champagnes come about to the marketing strategies of Ruinart. For many who do not know, Ruinart is the oldest champagne house in France and up to 70% of their champagnes remain in France. It is no wonder why many do not know of the brand. And that is exactly what I like of the label, no mass consumerism. Those who know are those who really appreciate the finer things in life, and not just drinking to show-off. Below is a picture of Dom Ruinart, the person who gave his family the idea to start producing champagne as part of their family business. That was how they eventually switched from textile to champagne.

Me standing in front of the hundreds and thousands of champagnes in the Ruinart cave. Wish I can bring all these home. Best if I can have the cave as well!

Someone once said that the perfect life is one where you can drink champagne everyday. I couldn't agree more. But just let me add on; the champagne gotta be Ruinart!