Tag Archives: Ruché

FERRARIS AGRICOLA : SIXTY YEARS OF RUCHÈ

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In 1964 Don Giacomo Cauda redesigned the modern history of Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato by planting “La Vigna del Parroco”, today the only Cru of the denomination enhanced thanks to Luca Ferraris

A modern and extraordinary story that begins with a parish priest, Don Giacomo Cauda, the mastermind behind the rediscovery, in the early 1960s, of Ruchè, a small oenological gem that knows no crisis.

A figure somewhere between Dom Pérignon, who legend has it was the man behind the birth of Champagne, and Don Camillo, because of his eccentric personality, Don Cauda gave new hope to a small area of Monferrato that was in danger of being abandoned.

This is the story that Vigna del Parroco Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG – a wine from the appellation’s only Cru, recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture, spreading over just over 1 hectare – is celebrating today. Celebrating this milestone is Luca Ferraris, who inherited it almost “as a dowry” in 2016 with a promise to carry on and continue to enhance this vineyard.

<< If it were not for Don Giacomo Cauda, Ruchè would not exist today. – Says Luca Ferraris, owner of the winery of the same name – This wine has a growing success and knows no crisis, despite the moment of reflection for the wine sector. Today a little more than 1,000,000 bottles are produced and sold all over the world at an ever-increasing price. Merit also goes to the introduction of the Riserva type, which as producers we strongly wanted>>.

Today, Vigna del Parroco is a complex wine whose bottle reproduces the original shape of Don Cauda’s one. To celebrate the 60th anniversary, this year, it will be sold in a special box containing a vertical of 4 vintages: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

Don Giacomo Cauda was an experimentalist priest. Upon arriving in Castagnole Monferrato, he found as a “dowry” to the parish a few rows of a vine that was rough at the time but which, over time, he transformed into an extraordinary product, unmistakable for its spicy and floral notes. The beginnings were not easy so much so that, upon purchasing the Vigna del Parroco, he made parishioners promise that, if necessary, they would have bought ten vintages of the grapes so as not to bankrupt the church. Working hard, even getting on the tractor on Good Friday, and devoting every spare moment to the care of the vineyard, he was able to build services for the local community with this wine, making the village flourish again. A commitment that led him to go all the way to Rome, to the Ministry, to apply for the DOC, which evolved into DOCG in 2010 thanks to the Mayor of Castagnole Monferrato Lidia Bianco.

Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato is a small DOCG that covers seven municipalities in the Asti area-Castagnole Monferrato, Grana, Montemagno, Portacomaro, Refrancore, Scurzolengo and Viarigi-included in the roster of appellations managed by the Consorzio Barbera d’Asti e Vini del Monferrato. A special denomination because Ruchè is one of the rare grape varieties that can only be produced and listed on the label in the territory authorized by the DOCG.

Vinchio Vaglio: the Nest of Barbera

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The story of the Vinchio and Vaglio winery is a love story where the inhabitants of these two villages transformed a difficult and poor, inarable land with slopes so steep that some local sayings proved true: “S’ot dròca la colassion, it la treuvi pì!” (if you drop your breakfast, you won’t find it again!) or “S’ot dròca ël bertin, ot toca curije drera fin ant la val” (if your hat blows off in the wind, you’ll need to run down to the end of the valley to get it”). The name results from both Vinchio and Vaglio Serra villages where 19 vine growers used to live and founded the cooperative in 1959. The winery is located in Piedmont, Monferrato, core zone of UNESCO World Heritage Patrimony, right at the foot of the Alps. This area with its steep slopes and overhanging vineyards at the edge of the woods has been tended and “tamed” to dramatic effort, where every single drop of the “Ruby of Vinchio” (Barbera wine) equates to thousands of drops (and certainly not an exaggeration!) of farmers’ sweat. However, the vineyards have never failed to reward their hard work. These vine rows, in fact, repay the industrious farmers with grapes of rare and exceptional quality. Nowadays the cooperative represents 192 family vine growers who take daily care of 450 hectares mostly planted in Barbera grapes (60% of our production) and all other indigenous grapes from Piedmont such as Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Ruché, Albarossa, Grignolino, Arneis, Cortese, Moscato and Brachetto. The territory is characterized by a distinctive terroir of calcareous soils and sandy soils in Vinchio and mostly clay soils in Vaglio Serra what makes the Barbera of Vinchio Vaglio unique for the structure (white soils), elegance (sandy soils) and aromas (clay soils). The sun usually shines all day on these hills, there is seldom hoarfrost or fog and no shadow. Great wines grow on these hills.

AT THE DISCOVERY OF RUCHE’

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Described as “a wine of character,” the Ruché of winemaker Montalbera of Castagnole Monferrato (AT) is one of the pleasantest surprises encountered in “Gusto in Scena”, the food and wine festival held last March 17 to 19 at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice.

Montalbera 010

 

 

Produced in a territory that includes seven municipalities of Monferrato, Piemont territory famous for the quality of its wines, the Ruché – DOC and DOCG  is a wine of exceptional softness, with a particular aroma of rose and violet and a fruity taste reminiscent of the flavor of apricot. All unusual features in a red Piedmont, which led him to be loved especially by women.

The origin is obscure, the best hypothesis is that it comes from old vines by the Alta Savoia while the name thought come from “San Rocco”. A community of monks devoted to this saint, in fact, would probably have introduced the cultivation in the area. But the link with the religious of this variety does not stop there: forgotten for a number of years and at risk of extinction, has been rediscovered in the ’70s by the pastor of Castagnole Monferrato, Don Giacomo Cauda, ​​which he found ten rows between the properties of the parish and decided to enhance it. “She has a perfect body – as he described it – and a balance of aromas, flavors and scents. Tasted with moderation frees the spirit and opens the mind …”

The Ruché is a red grape, with medium-small leaf, three-lobed (rarely lobed), pale green and hairless. The

Ruchè LACCENTO

Ruchè LACCENTO

cluster has cylindrical shape – pyramidal, elongated and compact. The ripening period coincides with the end of September – beginning of October, greatly anticipating the ripening compared with other varieties typical of the area. Despite remarkable characteristics of adaptability, it prefers calcareous and argillaceous land, giving a bouquet of particular intensity and characterization.

The designation of origin includes the towns of Castagnole Monferrato, Grana, Montemagno,

Portacomaro Refrancore, Scurzolengo and Viarigi, all in the province of Asti. The regulations impose a 90% Ruché grapes, while the remaining 10% may also include Brachetto or Barbera grapes.

There are three interpretations of Ruché: La Tradizione, Laccento e Limpronta each with specific characteristics, result of a long trial. Just one of them, Laccento was recently winner of the Prize for the Best Italian Red Wine  at eighth edition of the event SensofWine, held in Rome last January 2013.


Massimo Paccagnella