Ruché (pronounced in English , ) is a red

Italian wine Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

from the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

region. It is largely used in making Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato, a small production red

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

which was granted ''

Denominazione di Origine Controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipic ...

'' (DOC) status by presidential decree on October 22, 1987, and was granted the more prestigious ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) status in 2010. The current DOC recognized area of production for the wine covers only about 100

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (40

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s) of vines around the villages of

Castagnole Monferrato Castagnole Monferrato is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northe ...

Refrancore Refrancore (Piedmontese: ''Ël Francó'' or ''Arfrancor'') is a village and ''comune'' in the northwestern Italian province of Asti in the Piedmont region, located some east of Asti in the Basso Monferrato. The territory of the ''comune'' extend ...

, Grana, Montemagno,

Viarigi Viarigi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Viarigi borders the following municipalities: Altavilla Monferrato, Felizzano, Montemagno ...

Scurzolengo Scurzolengo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Scurzolengo borders the following municipalities: Calliano, Castagnole Monferrato, and ...

and

Portacomaro Portacomaro ( pms, Portacomé) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Portacomaro borders the following municipalities: Asti, Calli ...

.regione.piemonte.it :: Map of production zone
/ref> Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato is, therefore, one of the lowest production varietal wines in Italy. The grape is also grown to some extent in the neighboring

province of Alessandria The Province of Alessandria ( it, Provincia di Alessandria; pms, Provincia ëd Lissandria; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''Provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part o ...

. There is some debate about the origins of the Ruché grape. One theory is that the variety is

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

to the hills northeast of the town of

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...

. Another theory is that the grape is a local variation on a French import. It has been grown in the area for at least one hundred years but has only recently been marketed and consumed outside of the immediate vicinity of its production. Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato tends to be medium bodied with notes of

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

and wild berries and

floral A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

aromas on the nose.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 206 Harcourt Books 2001 The wine is often characterized by moderate

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and soft

tannins Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', f ...

. In the Piedmont region it is often paired with slow-cooked beef, northern Italian cheeses and mushrooms.

History

The exact origins of Ruchè are unknown with

ampelographer Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...

s holding different theories. The two most prominent theories is either grape is indigenous to the

region or that it originated in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and was brought to Piedmont sometime in the 18th century. For most of its history in Piedmont, the grape has been cultivated in relative obscurity. In the early 21st century, the grape experience a slight revival of interest with the DOC wine of Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 596-597 Oxford University Press 2006

Wines

Ruché shares some similarities with the major Piedmontese grape

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; pms, nebieul ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, G ...

in that it tends to produce very tannic, light colored wines with pronounced aromas and bouquet. The wines are often characterized by a slightly

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

aftertaste Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying fe ...

Synonyms

Ruché is known under a variety of spellings. The area of Piedmont, where the variety is grown, speaks a dialect mix of French and Italian such that Ruché (French) can be Rouchet or Rouché whereas the Italian pronunciation is spelled Ruchè or Rouche.

References

External links

ItalianMade.com

A page on the grape from the Regione Piemonte Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruche Red wine grape varieties Italian DOC Wine grapes of Italy Wine grapes of Piedmont Wine regions of Italy Wines of Piedmont Province of Asti it:Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato