On the 1st September 1729 Nicolas Ruinart, drapery merchant in Reims like his father, opened his first book account dedicated to vin de bulles. He was 33 years old. That book also represents a birth certificate: his first Maison of Champagne. In 1768 Ruinart bought the crayeres, so-called ancient chalk caves (from the Roman time), digged beneath the city of Reims, 38m deep, to stock bottles.