Elite Traveler Winter 2024/25

INFLUENCE BEHIND THE SCENES

Opposite page, clockwise fromleft Staircase carved in the chalk; Christophe Gautrand, Sou Fujimoto and Gwenaël Nicolas; historic Ruinart bottles; detail of the Ruinart Bar; carousel with bottles of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs

Below Facade of the Nicolas Ruinart Pavilion, facing the main courtyard

Behind the scenes Maison Ruinart

Historic Maison Ruinart has taken a bold step into the future with its new cutting-edge maison. Emma Al-Mousawi hears from the creative minds behind the reimagining of the world’s oldest champagne house

As space-age lasers dance across Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto’s latest futuristic creation under Reims’ night sky, one might question if they had accidentally taken a wrong turn in search of Maison Ruinart, the oldest champagne house in the world. Like all the best tales from the French oenoverse , Maison Ruinart’s begins with a learned monk. The story goes that in 1680, at the age of 23, bright-eyed Dom Thierry Ruinart left his birthplace of Champagne for Paris and the scholarly Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. On his return, he told of the French court’s penchant for “wine with bubbles,” not yet known as champagne. It would, however, be the Benedictine monk’s entrepreneurial nephew, Nicolas, who would decades later take his uncle’s foresight and open Maison Ruinart in 1729 — the world’s fi rst commercial champagne house. It is an unusually crisp early October evening, and a select group of global press members have gathered at the maison’s emblematic 4 Rue Des Crayères address. As the lights illuminate, some 130 ft beneath our feet are Ruinart’s Unesco-certi fi ed crayères. The former medieval chalk quarries were transformed into the maison’s iconic cellars by the Ruinart family in the 19th century. A dark labyrinth stretching fi ve miles, it acts as the perfect natural

refrigerator for aging cuvées — an early display of the maison’s innovativeness. Today, however, as you may have guessed, is not about celebrating past feats. We are here to witness what Maison Ruinart president Frédéric Dufour describes as a “reinvention of the Ruinart universe” — the unveiling of Fujimoto’s Nicolas Ruinart Pavilion. Three years in the making, the new heart of the 7.2-acre estate is a sweeping structure of glass and stone encapsulating a multifaceted space to welcome visitors. The fl owing interior of the pavilion, crafted by French designer Gwenaël Nicolas, blends organically like a landscape from retail space to visitor center to bar to tasting rooms. It takes its place among a trio of existing 19th-century buildings still used for production, each opening onto the maison’s rectangular courtyard garden. As part of the evolution, the garden has seen its own reinvention under the craftsmanship of French landscape artist Christophe Gautrand. Now a modern art gallery free to the public, it showcases existing works as well as around a dozen fresh pieces by global artists, commissioned by Ruinart’s director of arts and culture, Fabien Vallérian. On the face of it, you may wonder why a brand with such an illustrious history has broken with tradition. However, the Maison Ruinart story isn’t

just one of rich French heritage; it is in equal parts one of innovation and sustainability. Look closely, and you will see all three elements woven into the fabric of its new incarnation. The fi rst encounter guests have with the new world of Ruinart is via Gautrand’s ‘Le Chemin Des Crayères.’ The hand-carved walled pathway emulates the white chalk crayères and transports guests from the street to the ultramodern pavilion. Outside the pavilion’s entrance hangs a fl ag—one of the new artworks — entitled Nature Calendar by British artist Marcus Coates. Today’s fl ag reads: “2 October, Chi ff cha ff s are about to fl y south for the winter.” Anew fl ag will be hoisted daily to celebrate the ‘invisible’ news from the natural world taking place each day at Ruinart’s Taissy vineyard. Art is sewn into Ruinart’s history and, like Coates’ work, each new piece commissioned illuminates an intrinsic connection to nature. “Nature is key to Ruinart because we are deeply rooted in the environment,” Vallérian tells Elite Traveler . “Our product comes from the soil and vines, so we are facing the challenges of global warming, pollution and lack of biodiversity. For us, it is a key element that we need to talk about. Of course it is about taking responsibility: the fact that we don’t transport bottles by air; eco-cases for the bottles; we reincluded diverse species in the vineyard. But when a company is telling you what to think about the environment, people aren’t always happy to get this message. When artists are telling you with their artworks, we strongly believe them to be the best ambassadors.” Sustainability is also a crucial design facet of the pavilion, with the building producing 80% of its own ener g y through geothermal and solar sources. The walls are crafted by stonemasons from local champagne-colored Soissons stone instead of concrete, and a green roof is supported by a wooden structure. Stepping inside Fujimoto’s vast construction, visitors fi nd themselves facing an enormous wall of glass framing the view of the courtyard garden and the historic buildings of the maison like a painting. “It was a very positive, exciting, big challenge to fi nd out the right answer to such history and traditions, and elegance and quality,” says Fujimoto. “We tried to create [something] really modern, making a beautiful contrast and harmony together with the existing maison.