On 9 March 2026, under a gentle spring sun in the gardens of Champagne Ruinart in Reims, a cork oak tree was planted in honour of Frédéric Panaïotis. The gesture was simple, but deeply meaningful: a living tribute to a man whose work and spirit left a lasting mark on the world of champagne.
The initiative came from the team of the The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships — Tom Stevenson, Essi Avellan, George Markus, and the entire CSWWC family — who wanted to honour the remarkable life and work of “Fred” in a way that reflected his passions.
In our minds it had to be a cork oak — Quercus suber. Fred loved trees, and cork trees in particular. His curiosity and research into cork closures led him to make a bold and important decision in 2010: to close the bottles of Dom Ruinart for tirage with natural cork rather than the customary crown cap. The results were sensational. Indeed, at the CSWWC we later recognised this achievement when, in blind tasting, Dom Ruinart 2010 was chosen as the Supreme World Champion.
To realise the tribute, we turned to António Rios de Amorim of Amorim, who enthusiastically joined the project and found the perfect cork oak tree in Portugal. Also Christophe Gautrand, the landscape designer, who turned Fred’s dreams into reality, when Fred wanted to have the very first ever cork oaks growing in Champagne, helped behind the scenes with our cork oak. It was planted yesterday by Essi Avellan of CSWWC, alongside Caroline Fiot and Florence Boubée-Legrand of Ruinart, Ernesto Pereira of Amorim and Fred’s partner Vineta Brutane.
As the tree took its place in the chalky soil of Ruinart’s garden, we remembered Fred with these words:
“Everyone loved Fred. He was one of those rare people who lit up a room, and if you knew him, you felt lucky. Lucky to talk with him, lucky to share a glass, or just lucky to be in the same space.”
We look forward to seeing Fred’s tree thrive at Ruinart — deeply rooted in chalk, its head reaching for the stars, and always surrounded by Ruinart lovers, just as he always was.
