Introducing, Frédéric Panaiotis – Champagne’s Renaissance Man
Lewis Chester DipWSET on the exceptional winemaking talent serving as Chef de Caves for Ruinart Champagne.
Modified on August 18, 2024 , Published on October 18, 2022
Handsome, charismatic, youthful, charming, cultured: Frédéric Panaiotis is super-cool. He speaks six languages (including Japanese, Spanish, Italian and German), and can converse in another 4 languages (including Russian, Latvian and Mandarin). He free dives up to a depth of 50 meters, and grows succulent plants for a hobby.
He might have been born in Reims, Champagne, but his soul lies in Japan, a country he’s visited 39 times and counting. And, while all his competitors rushed to make vintage champagnes from the famed 2008 and 2012 champagne harvests, he had the gall to decide that neither vintage was good enough for the Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs that Ruinart is known for, taking the brave decision to skip these vintages. Frédéric Panaiotis is the quintessential Renaissance Man of champagne.
I first met Fred in 2014. I had won the Champagne Scholarship after my WSET Level 3 exams, and the prize was to attend the Champagne Academy’s week-long, exhausting but incredible trip to 16 champagne houses: which involved daily tours, tastings, lunches and dinners, plus a series of exams. Naturally, we visited Ruinart, where Fred introduced us to tasting Vins Clairs (the base wines used for champagne, which are extremely acidic and not meant for drinking), followed by cooking our own lunch under Fred’s expert guidance. All the ladies on the trip fell in love with Fred; all the men wanted to be Fred.
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs
Over the years, I developed a strong bond with Fred, not only on trips back to the champagne region, but also wherever we found ourselves in the same country. In 2017, it was in Sydney, where we rented a boat, drank ourselves silly and then Fred tried to teach me how to free dive – the less said about that the better! Fred and his long-time Latvian girlfriend, Vineta, started to hang out with my wife, Natalie, and whenever they came to London, including at family functions. I was always drawn to both the geeky part of Fred’s personality, as well as his love of life and willingness to learn about anything and everything. From this vantage point, I can attest to how special Fred is, not only in his role as Ruinart’s Chef de Cave, but more importantly as a man and a friend. Champagne is truly blessed to have Fred flying their flag.
Born in 1964 and raised in Reims, the champagne region’s capital, Fred’s father (whose parents were both Greek) died in 1985, leaving his mother to raise Fred and his three older siblings – a sister and two brothers, all grown-up at the time – to support their mother. His sister was head of the Red Cross in the champagne region.
His interest in wine started at a young age – in fact, he was drinking his first thimbles of champagne aged two. Many autumns were spent helping with the harvest at his grandparents’ 1.5 hectares of vineyards in Villers-Marmery, a Premier Cru village in the Montagne de Reims. In those days, this small plot of land could feed their family of ten. However, his moment of enlightenment happened at Christmas lunch in 1985, just after his father’s passing. His uncle opened a 1976 Richebourg Grand Cru from Burgundy’s Domaine Jean Gros. Despite tasting it from a V-shaped glass (a virtual heresy for drinking Burgundy wines), Fred can still remember how the wine tasted to this day, such was the impression it had on him.
Fréd Panaiotis’ other life calling: free diving
Fred was educated at AgroParisTech, one of the world’s leading institutions for agronomy. A combination of being inspired by a legendary professor, Max de Fournas, and a visit to a winemaker in Pouilly-Fuissé who opened one of his last three remaining Jeroboams from the 1969 vintage – an act of immense generosity for a group of students who clearly could not afford to buy his wines – convinced him that he wanted to become a vigneron.
After graduation, Fred worked in a variety of positions, including stints at the CIVC, champagne’s all powerful regulatory body, where he studied the “influence of fining and filtering on effervescence and riddling cycles” (this might help to explain the geeky side of his personality). His compulsory period with the Journée Défense et Citoyenneté (France’s national service) was not conducted on the military parade ground, but rather in Mendocino County, California, working three harvests (from August 1989 until November 1991) for Scharffenberger Cellars as assistant winemaker, thanks to the winery being French-owned, which made him eligible as part of the VIE French International Internship Programme.
Leaving the CIVC for the third time in September 1994 – having conducted in-depth research on how to lower the incidence of cork taint for champagne bottlers – he joined Champagne house Veuve-Clicquot without a single day of vacation (a continual theme in Fred’s CV). At Veuve, Fred joined a team of winemakers for one of champagne’s largest producers, focusing on wine communication, one of the key aspects for any Chef de Cave in-waiting. The job entailed interacting with wine press, sommeliers and private clients. After twelve-and-a-half years at Veuve, an opportunity arose to become Chef De Cave at Maison Ruinart in May 2007, and again he left Veuve on a Friday and started work at Ruinart on the following Monday.
With the author
Trying to describe the role of Chef De Cave is not straight-forward. Clearly, winemaking is a key part of the job, but it is so much more besides. According to Fred, the role of Chef De Cave is to be “the Guardian of the Temple”, responsible for spreading the word and educating the world about the DNA of the maison. At Ruinart, Fred manages a core team of four winemakers, and spends around 60 percent of his time on winemaking, research and viticulture. The rest of the time, he travels the world “spreading the word”.
Although he reports to the CEO of Ruinart, Frederic Dufour, they make all key decisions together, including when to declare a vintage. As touched on before, controversially, Ruinart is the only major champagne house I know that decided not to make a prestige cuvée in 2008 or 2012, two of the most highly praised vintages of the last thirty years, and hence a sure-fire sell-out for a thirsty audience of collectors and champagne lovers.
Fred’s view was that the Chardonnay from these vintages would not create the style he wanted for Dom Ruinart, the Maison’s prestige cuvée. Given that Ruinart is known for its chardonnay blends (Blanc De Blancs), it only matters how the chardonnay performs in any given vintage (as opposed to other Houses, like Dom Perignon and Krug, which make their champagnes with blends of pinot noir, meunier and chardonnay). Nonetheless, I can only imagine the reaction of Frederic Dufour when Fred suggested skipping these vintages. Such must be Dufour’s trust in his Chef De Cave!
With his daughter Thelma
Perhaps the most important quality in any Chef De Cave is their willingness and ability to understand the DNA of the maison, and ensure that they not only uphold it, but articulate it to a marketplace overflowing with quality alternatives. According to Fred, Ruinart’s DNA is built around, on the one hand, its incredible 293-year history and, on the other hand, innovation, disruption and modernity. These two contrasting images – history and tradition versus innovation and modernity – are what Fred is devoting himself to at Ruinart.
History and tradition can be seen in Ruinart’s bottle-shape, which is unique and instantly recognizable. Innovation and modernity can be seen in the packaging Ruinart recently introduced, made from ‘second-skin’ recycled paper from eco-managed forests which are eleven times lighter than the previous packaging, reducing the Maison’s carbon footprint by over 60 percent. A new, cleaner, modern label, which still evokes Ruinart’s rich history and tradition, has been introduced for the 2010 Dom Ruinart.
Ruinart’s close association with the arts and patronage of artists is something that the Maison prides itself on. Every year, they select an artist to create a unique piece of artwork for the Maison which is then taken to 32 prestigious art fairs around the world. The artist, although given free reign, is immersed into the DNA of the Maison to create an artwork that encapsulates the essence of Ruinart. Recent artists include David Shrigley, whose deceptively simple imagery inspires deep reflection in those who study his works. For 2022, the Danish Berlin-based artist, Jeppe Hein, has been chosen for how his work focuses on self-reflection and reconciliation.
About to perform the saber/champagne trick at 67 Pall Mall, London
Ruinart recently began the CountDown Program in 2019, choosing an artist each year until 2029 (the 300-year anniversary of the Maison) to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change – by far the biggest issue facing not only champagne, but most of the world’s fine wine regions. This year, 85-year old artist, Nils-Udo, has created an artwork out of materials found in the forest that resembles a giant scarecrow to highlight the importance of preserving ‘habitats’ in the vineyards.
Diversity and inclusivity is also becoming more important to Fred and the Maison. Ruinart are sponsors of the Golden Vines Awards (The ‘Oscars of Fine Wine’) – which I founded with Sasha Lushnikov – which also raises money for educational programs around diversity and inclusivity globally in the wine, spirits and hospitality sectors through the Gérard Basset Foundation. Ruinart is part of the internship program offered to Golden Vines Scholarship winners.
Fred’s 27-year old daughter, Thelma, is a marine biologist living in the South of France. Her influence on Fred has brought out his concern for the environment to a greater extent than otherwise would have been the case. The result has been Fred’s determination to focus on sustainable agriculture, especially biodiversity in the vineyards, which is under threat from climate change. Work is focused on how to revive the soils, as well as bringing more animal life and habitats into the vineyards.
The Crayères at Champagne Ruinart, Reims
Certainly, one of Fred’s greatest contributions to the Maison is his influence on, and vision for, Dom Ruinart: the house’s Prestige Cuvée. Although it represents less than two percent of the maison’s sales, champagne houses tend to be judged on how good the ultimate expression of that house is. In Ruinart’s case, that is Dom Ruinart. To reduce production costs, many champagne houses stopped using corks for the second fermentation (from which the bubbles in champagne derive) decades ago. The introduction of automated disgorgement equipment for champagne aged in metal ‘crown caps’ enabled houses to cheaply and efficiently disgorge the dead yeast cells that build up in the bottle during the second fermentation process before sending them to market.
However, numerous scientific studies have now found that, counterintuitively, more oxygen seeps into the wine through the crown cap than through the cork. “It’s as if the cork ‘eats’ the oxygen,” Fred explains – creating not only a fresher wine, but also one with more depth and complexity. For this reason, Fred persuaded his boss, Frederic Dufour, to invest in expensive new storage trays for the cork-stopped bottles, as well as instituting costly and time-consuming hand-disgorgement of the bottles.
More importantly, Fred was determined to use cork very early on in his tenure, despite not knowing for sure how the experiment would work out – a very risky proposition. For the latest release, the 2010 Dom Ruinart, Fred was happy enough with the result to release champagne, for the first time, in bottles solely aged on cork. Having tasted the wine twice now, I can attest to the success of this experiment. The 2010 not only has an incredible freshness and depth, but a textual quality missing in prior vintages. Fred’s goal is for Dom Ruinart to be revered alongside the very best Blanc De Blancs in champagne: which, in essence, means enjoying the same level of esteem as the famed salon from the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
With Michelin star chef Caterina Ceraudo
Outside of work and family, there are four activities that dominate Fred’s life. The first is his aforementioned love of free diving. Having trained in a swimming club in Reims, Fred has free dived to a depth of 51 meters. He often holidays in Dahab, Egypt, one of the best places in the world to free dive. I have always thought this side of Fred highlights a certain craziness in the man. This was recently confirmed when I found out that Fred had damaged his inner ear-drum whilst free diving in Monaco in August 2020, and once again, in Dahab in February 2022. Having waited a few weeks for his ear to heal, he then free-dived down to 47 meters in Dean’s Blue Hall off the coast of the Bahamas.
The second is his (also aforementioned) nurturing of succulent plants. I can’t lie – I previously had no idea what these were, so when we last met up I had to ask him to explain. Fred launched into a long explanation about the fact that succulent plants do not include just cacti but many other weird and wonderful species. To prove his point, he got out his iPhone to show me how he and his succulent-plant fellow enthusiasts share photos of the rare plants they are growing. It was all a bit too much for me, so I moved on to cooking.
It was at university where Fred and his two room-mates first began to experiment as amateur chefs, mainly due to the fact that they hated university food but could not afford to go to restaurants. They used their money to buy the best ingredients, and ended up hosting cooking competitions to see which of the three of them was able to come up with the best dishes. Fred’s best combinations always include mushrooms and fish.
Plunging into the deep on a single breath of air: an unconventional winemaker’s side hobby | © Frederic PANAIOTIS
Meanwhile he’s closing in on his 40th trip to Japan, a country with whom he’s had a love affair since childhood. Fred’s childhood hobby wasn’t toy trains, playing football or immersing himself into punk rock – it was breeding fish – and given the Japanese were the leaders in the field, he decided to teach himself the language so he could understand the country’s television programs about fish breeding. He first went there in 1997, and his love of the country is perhaps the reason why Japan is now a big market for Ruinart. It is the Japanese people’s respect for history, tradition, attention to detail, appreciation for quality, sophistication and – in food –simplicity and seasonality (“enjoying things when they are at their best”) which has made the biggest impression on him.
What does the future hold for Monsieur Panaiotis? He will be 65 in 2029, which neatly coincides with the tricentennial of Maison Ruinart. Fred is keen to stay at the helm for what will be an important anniversary for Ruinart, where he promises a few ‘surprise’ additions to the Ruinart stable of wines. After 2029, perhaps he’ll go for a stint making wine in Burgundy, Fred’s favorite wine region outside of champagne. Or maybe a life meditating and free diving by the sea in Corsica, his dream place to live?
In the meantime, here’s a run-down of his ‘bucket list’ of wines to appreciate.
Best Three Ruinart Expressions
1969 Dom Ruinart (£468, BUY NOW)
1981 Dom Ruinart Rosé (£458 as a magnum, BUY NOW)
1926 Ruinart Vintage, from the cellar of restaurant Paul Bocuse (unobtainable)
Best Three Still Wines
1976 Richebourg Grand Cru, Domaine Gros Frère & Soeur (£495, BUY NOW)
1973 La Tâche, Domaine de la Romanée Conti (around £3,000, BUY NOW)
1975, Auslese Goldkapsel, Egon Müller (around £1,800, BUY NOW)
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Lewis Chester DipWSET is a London-based wine collector, member of the Académie du Champagne and Chevaliers du Tastevin, co-founder of Liquid Icons and, along with Sasha Lushnikov, co-founder of the Golden Vines® Awards. He is also Honorary President and Head of Fundraising at the Gérard Basset Foundation, which funds diversity & inclusivity education programmes globally in the wine, spirits & hospitality sectors.
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