Ruinart Welcomes Eva Jospin to Design the 2023 Carte Blanche Commission

Ruinart - Eva Jospin: The 2023 Carte Blanche Commission

The esteemed champagne company Ruinart invites a contemporary artist each year to create a one-of-a-kind, limited-edition artistic interpretation of its champagne. This year, French artist Eva Jospin created the immersive installation PROMENADE(S) en Champagne, which combines her artistic vision with the universe of Ruinart.

Through this installation, Jospin pays reverence to the Champagne region's terroir and the generations of experienced artisans who have handed down their precise techniques for producing Ruinart's exceptional champagne.

Eva Jospin's Carte Blanche installation at Maison Ruinart is a stunning homage to the champagne house's rich history and varied landscape. She is inspired by the intertwined vines, subterranean chalk quarries that have been converted into wine vaults, remnants of the regal past, and a future based on preserving biodiversity. Her work is a demonstration of her dedication to artisanal craftsmanship and embracing the power of time, which are also core values of Ruinart.

The centrepiece of Jospin's installation is a Carmontelle, a paper roll depicting pastoral scenes from the 18th century, when Maison Ruinart was founded. This captivating object establishes the theme for the installation and provides a graphic narrative of the visible and invisible components that go into making champagne.

The Carmontelle conjures the diverse locales that Eva Jospin visited, from the Ruinart chalk caverns and vineyards to the nearby forest. The sculpture by Jospin reprises the interlaced motif, invoking the seedlings of the vines, and juxtaposes multiple strata, subterranean, and aerial landscapes from roots to heavens.

Eva Jospin chooses cardboard as the medium for her miniature sculptural works, elevating the humble material with her meticulous gestures, just as the cellar master coaxes the grape's qualities into exquisite champagne.

The forest is a recurring motif in her work, inspired by the forest that boarders the Taissy vineyards. Her landscape-inspired embroidery incorporates flax yarn and brass, whose metallic lustre recalls the muselet, the cage that contains the champagne cork. Ultimately, her designs in Indian ink on camouflage canvas become a regional map.

Eva Jospin has also designed an exquisite limited edition piece based on a Jeroboam of Ruinart's signature Blanc de Blancs. The custom-made wooden box, secured with leather buckles, reveals a miniature crayère scene sculpted from layers of painstakingly crafted cardboard. The champagne container, symbolically shielded from light and conjuring the meticulous fermentation process, is nested within this intricate landscape.

This extraordinary Blanc de Blancs cuvée, crafted from 25 to 30 hand-selected Chardonnay vintages, has a velvety texture and citrusy flavours that enchant the palate with every drink. This extraordinary work of art, which is limited to only 25 signed and numbered pieces, is a testament to Jospin's artistic prowess and Ruinart's unwavering commitment to manufacturing exceptional champagnes.