For the first time, Ruinart has called upon French painter Claude Viallat to create a limited edition of the bottles of the iconic vintages from Ruinart, the famous Champagne House.
The Maison Ruinart is launching a limited edition of its iconic vintages. Painter Claude Viallat was responsible for the bottles' packaging. Giving them a second skin, he applied colors and shapes to the magnums of R de Ruinart, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Ruinart Rosé, and Ruinart Millésimé, using his signature technique.
The color of Ruinart champagne wines played a major role in his inspiration... he was able to imagine a unique chromatic play to cover only 50 copies where each case is signed and numbered.
Since the 1970s, Claude Viallat has continued to paint his signature motif, which can once again be found in his creations for the Ruinart Champagne House. This sponge-, knucklebone-, or bean-shaped motif, open to interpretation, remains the artist's leitmotif throughout his work.
For each vintage, the painter Claude Viallat has played with the chromatic variations that echo the wines and their bottles... and in doing so, this perfectly reflects the Ruinart spirit. A pink color for the rosé, yellow for the blanc de blancs and finally green for the brut and the vintage.
Limited edition
The limited edition is available in magnum format and includes the R de Ruinart cuvées… 750 euros, R de Ruinart Millésime 2009, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Ruinart Rosé… 900 euros. All copies are signed and numbered.
The limited edition of the various vintages will be on sale exclusively at Maison Ruinart in Reims from May 28, 2002.
About Claude Viallat
Claude Viallat, a contemporary French painter, was born in Nîmes on May 18, 1936. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier, the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in the studio of Raymond Legueult, in 1966 he adopted a painting process consisting of prints placed on free canvases without frames... which places him in the technique known as All-over, an uncompromising critique of lyrical and geometric abstraction. The neutral form repeated ad infinitum makes his work on color something unique. Color is the primary object and subject of Claude Viallat's works.
In 1969, he co-founded the group Supports/Surfaces, a movement of creating new designs using traditional materials. His recent works feature flat, square or rectangular surfaces, where he practices unleashing... density, intensity and brilliance between the colored surfaces.
In addition to his numerous national and international successes and exhibitions, he devoted a large part of his life to teaching in art schools such as Nice, Limoges, Marseille, Nîmes and then Paris at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Currently retired, this does not prevent him from continuing his exploratory research. He is still represented in France by art galleries in Saint-Etienne, Nîmes, Montpellier, Rennes but also abroad in Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United States as well as Japan.
About Ruinart
Maison Ruinart was founded in 1729 in Epernay by Nicolas Ruinart, nephew of Dom Thierry Ruinart, a Benedictine monk. It is in fact one of the oldest Champagne houses. Dom Ruinart, a cloth merchant, noted the enthusiasm for champagne production during his travels throughout Europe. He bequeathed his expertise and vision for the champagne trade to his nephew.
The royal decree of May 25, 1728, confirmed a dream and made it a reality. Louis XV thus allowed the transport of wine in bottles, essential for champagne wine; previously, wines could only travel in barrels. During this period, the House and its cellars were transferred to Reims (current location). The first account book for wine attests to this on the 1er September 1729 by these words written… In the name of God and the Holy Virgin, this book begins.
The House does not own any vines, and is a trader but not a grower. It buys its harvests from some seventy producers in the region, including around thirty in Reims and the surrounding villages alone.
Business began slowly with the shipment of Champagne wines for clients purchasing sheets, a sort of business gift. Nicolas Ruinart realized that the wine trade could largely supplant that of sheets. Soon, the ships were filled with baskets of champagne bottles replacing sheets and rolls of fabric, making this new trade the main activity of the Ruinart House from 1735. Numerous warehouses were opened in France in Tournai, Cysoing, Sedan, Rethel, Cambrai, Charleville but also Paris… the activity was very lucrative. The House's account book attests to the first export of rosé Champagne to Germany on March 14, 1764.
Today, Maison Ruinart is owned by the MHCS company of the LVMH group, which also owns the Moët et Chandon, Krug, and Veuve Clicquot brands.
André Tirlet
