Ruinart: A Chalk Pit as Tall as the Cathedral Nave

On 1 September 1729, Nicolas Ruinart, a Reims cloth merchant and nephew of the Benedictine monk Thierry Ruinart, opened his first account book for "wine with bubbles" and sold it first to the customers who bought his cloth. The house came to this chalk hill later: in 1760 or 1768 by the State's and UNESCO's reckoning, in 1877 by its own history page. Some of its pits first rose almost 50 m; the tallest now measures 38 m, the height of the nave of Reims Cathedral. You can walk the free garden to Sou Fujimoto's pavilion, go down to some twenty pits on a two-hour visit, find the racks where, the house says, its bottles are still riddled, and end under the cathedral's vault.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Walk the Free Garden to the Glass Carousel Adventure · Free

   Free, before any booking: the garden, the new pavilion and its glass carousel.

   The century-old building facing the new pavilion was destroyed in the First World War and rebuilt identically around 1920 by the architect Thiérot. Since 2024 Sou Fujimoto's pavilion of Soissons stone has stood opposite it, under a wooden roof whose curve references a champagne bubble.

   Where: 4 rue des Crayères.

   What: walk the 7,000 m² wooded garden, with remarkable beeches in its listed part and about twenty contemporary works; look for Tadashi Kawamata's Tree Hut cabins in the trees and his Nest on the façade of the historic building; then step into the pavilion and find the glass carousel at its centre, bottles of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs along glass walls reflected in a mirror ceiling.

   How: free, no ticket, every day from 9:00 to 19:00.

   Backup: if you cannot spot a work, the carousel alone completes the step.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Go Down to the Pits the Mayor Joined Adventure · Price: high

   The house's crayère visit: about twenty chalk pits on two levels.

   The galleries that join the house's pits were dug in the early 19th century by Irénée Ruinart, the founder's grandson, then mayor of Reims.

   Where: the visit starts in the Pavillon Nicolas Ruinart and in one of the historic salons, then goes down.

   What: book the crayère visit (2 hours, 12 places, in French or English; 90 € for adults, 50 € for ages 7 to 17, free under 7), or the Signature Chardonnay visit (2 hours, 110 €), whose tasting names its cuvées. Below: about twenty pits on two levels, nearly 40 m down, in an 8 km labyrinth. Inside a pit, look up: a typical crayère is a hollow pyramid, usually square at the base and octagonal near the top, where a shaft about 1 m wide leads to the surface. The house gives 10 to 12 °C down there, so bring a layer.

   How: book on the house's ticketing page.

   Backup: if visits are full, the Bar by Ruinart pours by the glass without booking, from noon (from 2 November, not on Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

   Log Memory
3. 3 Find the Riddling Racks in the Crayères Wine · Free

   In the pits: the racks where the house says its bottles are still turned.

   The house says the riddling of its champagnes (remuage) and other steps of making them still take place in its crayères, which hold a constant 10 to 12 °C.

   Where: in the pits, on your visit.

   What: find the riddling racks full of Ruinart bottles, then ask your guide how the bottles are turned and how long they stay there.

   How: no extra cost, on your visit.

   Backup: if your route passes no racks, ask the question anyway.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Find the Monk in Your Glass Wine · Free

   The tasting that ends your visit, and the story of the cuvée the house named for the monk.

   The story goes that Thierry Ruinart, the founder's uncle and a Benedictine church historian, met Dom Pérignon at Hautvillers in 1696; the champagne houses' own trade body says nothing proves, or disproves, that he took a direct interest in making Champagne's wines. The house says it named its first 100% chardonnay cuvée for him: Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs 1959, sold from 1966.

   Where: the tasting at the end of your visit.

   What: the crayère visit pours two cuvées: ask your guide which, and whether one is Dom Ruinart. The Signature Chardonnay visit pours Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Blanc Singulier and Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs.

   How: included in your ticket; under-18s are offered other drinks, and sipping is up to you.

   Backup: none needed.

   Log Memory
5. 5 Stand Under 38 Metres of Nave History · Free

   Free: out of the chalk into Reims Cathedral, where, the house says, its family's mayor helped organise the 1825 coronation festivities.

   The tallest of Ruinart's pits measures 38 m, the UNESCO property's managers say: the height of the vault of Reims Cathedral's nave. Charles X's coronation here in 1825 was the last of a king in the cathedral; the house says Irénée Ruinart, head of the house and mayor of Reims, helped organise the festivities.

   Where: Reims Cathedral, 1.8 km north-west of the house.

   What: walk up the nave and look up at a vault as high as the tallest pit.

   How: free, every day from 8:00; doors close at 19:30 (19:15 on Sundays and feast days), with no entry in the last 15 minutes; on Sunday until noon, only the narthex.

   Backup: none needed.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• Visits start in the Pavillon Nicolas Ruinart at 4 rue des Crayères; on weekdays the inner car park is closed during works, so arrive 15 minutes early and park outside.

• The garden and the pavilion need no ticket; the Bar by Ruinart pours by the glass without booking, from 16 €, but from 2 November it closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

• Thierry Ruinart, the monk in the founding story, entered the novitiate at the abbey of Saint-Remi, whose church, the Basilica Saint-Remi, stands about 900 m west of the house; his tombstone lies in the church of Saint-Sindulphe at Hautvillers, where Dom Pérignon is buried too.

• Children are welcome on the crayère visit (50 € for ages 7 to 17, free under 7), and under-18s are offered other drinks at the tasting.