R de Ruinart Brut Champagne

Wei Zhang - The wine shop guy was right

8/10

Went in asking for something for our anniversary dinner and got pointed to this. Really expressive on the nose — you can smell it properly without even trying, which I liked. Paired it with some seafood pasta and it was spot on. Felt like a proper treat.

Grace Kim - Lovely stuff, great for impressing people

8/10

Brought this to a dinner party instead of flowers and the hosts were well chuffed. It smells amazing straight out of the bottle and tastes like proper grown-up Champagne — layered and interesting without being try-hard. Would buy as a gift again, the Ruinart name on the label doesn't hurt either.

Yasmine Najjar - Decent, expected a bit more though

7/10

Saw this on a restaurant menu and thought I'd splash out. It's well made and everything is balanced and clean, no complaints there. But for a Ruinart I was hoping for something that would blow me away and it was more quietly impressive than exciting. Still solid at 8/10 territory I suppose.

Marco Andretti - New Year's Eve winner

8/10

Picked up two bottles for NYE and they went down an absolute storm. Everyone commented on how good it was, even my mate who normally just drinks lager. The finish is really smooth and it doesn't get that sharp acidic bite some cheaper fizz gives you. 12.5% ABV so not too heavy either which was handy given we had two bottles between four of us.

Erik Strom - Nice but hard to justify the price

7/10

Look, it's good Champagne. Clean, well balanced, pleasant finish that hangs around nicely. But at nearly £65 a bottle I keep thinking about the Cremants and Cavas I could get for a third of the price. Save it for when someone else is paying.

Alex Ramos - This is what Champagne should taste like

9/10

I've had a lot of mediocre Champagne at weddings and honestly started to think it was all a bit overrated. Then I tried this. The acidity is bright without being harsh and there's genuine complexity to it. Changed my mind about the whole category.

Amira Benali - Birthday treat that delivered

9/10

Bought this for my 40th and honestly it was the highlight of the night. Really crisp and clean with loads of tiny bubbles, and it's got this depth to it that made me actually stop and pay attention. At £65 it's not cheap but for a special occasion it felt worth every penny.

Isabella Rossi - Proper Champagne, no messing about

8/10

Had this at a friend's dinner party and immediately asked what it was. It's got a lovely brightness to it but also something more going on underneath — not just fizzy wine, if you know what I mean. Tracked a bottle down the next week. Would happily buy again.