Ruinart Blanc de Blancs

The house style leans heavily on time spent in its chalk cellars, where non-vintage wines usually rest for three to four years before they are sold. The bottle itself is shaped after the first Champagne bottles of the eighteenth century, so it looks quite different from the usual modern bottle.

In the glass it is pale and bright, with citrus, white peach and white flowers, and a fine, creamy mousse. A share of older reserve wine helps keep the style steady from one bottling to the next. Serve it at about 8 degrees in a wide-bowled glass rather than a narrow flute, so the Chardonnay has room to open up. It is made for seafood: oysters, scallops, sea bream tartare or sashimi.