Brachetto d'Acqui (; ) is a red

Italian wine Italian wine () is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, as well as the List of wine-producing regions#Countries, world's ...

that is classified as a '' Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) since 1996 and previously a ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) region since 1969. It is produced in the Piedmont wine region around Acqui Terme in the

province of Alessandria The province of Alessandria (; ; in Piedmontese of Alessandria: ''provinsa ëd Lissändria'') is an Italian Provinces of Italy, province, with a population of some 425,000, which forms the southeastern part of the region of Piedmont. The prov ...

with some overlap into the

province of Asti The province of Asti (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''provincia d'Ast'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Asti. To the northwest it borders on the Metropolitan City of Turin; ...

. The wine is produced from the

Brachetto Brachetto () is a red Italian wine grape variety grown predominantly in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. At one time the grape was thought to be related to the French wine grape Braquet, but recent thought among ampelographers is that ...

grape, a variety that is believed to be native to

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, and can be still or sparkling with usually some

sweetness Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...

.J. Bastianich & D. Lynch ''Vino Italiano'' pg 132, 153, 419, Crown Publishing 2005

History

The exact origins of the wine are unknown. While the Brachetto grape is believed to be native to Piedmont (with the Monferrato hills and the area around

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

being the most likely home of the grape), some ampelographers have speculated as early as the late 19th century that the grape might actually be French in origin.Italian Trade Commission '
Acqui or Brachetto d'Acqui (DOCG)
"'' Italianmade.com Accessed: March 5, 2011 Still, the production of a sweet, frothy red wine from this region has long tradition. In the Italian theater tradition of ''

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

'', the mask character of Gianduja da Gioan d'laduja or Giovanni of the Jug, which represented

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

is said to have preferred Brachetto d'Acqui among all others. Even prior, in the times of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, writers were describing a wine Gallia Cisalpina (northern Italy) known as ''vinum acquense'' (wine of the Acqui) that was a favorite among patricians with its sweet flavors and high

aromatics Aromatic compounds or arenes are organic compounds "with a chemistry typified by benzene" and "cyclically conjugated." The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping of molecules based on odor, before their general chemical properties were ...

. Legend also had it that

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and

Marc Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

presented

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

several

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

s of ''vinum acquense'' as a gift. Also, according to legend, the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

believed that the wine had the power to unleash the passions of her lovers.K. Walker '
Brachetto: An ancient delight
"'' Wein-Plus Magazine, May 3, 2007M. Hunt '
Classics That Work Every Time
"'' Cuisine Noir Magazine, January 30, 2010

Wine region

The DOCG zone of Brachetto d'Acqui include the Monferrato hills that extend southeast from the town of Asti with some overlap into the Asti DOCG zone. The region includes the valleys along the Bormida and Belbo rivers as they flow into the Tanaro. The communes of Acqui Terme and Strevi are at the heart of the winemaking region.

DOCG regulations

Under DOCG regulations Brachetto d'Acqui must be produced from 100% Brachetto grapes that were harvested at no more than 8

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

/hectare. Prior to promotion to DOCG status, other red Piedmont varieties (such as Dolcetto, Pinot nero, Freisa, Grignolino and Ruché) could be blended in with limited percentages. While the minimum alcohol levels for the finished wines must be at least 5% for '' frizzante'' and 6% for '' spumante'' the grapes used for Brachetto d'Acqui must attain enough ripeness for potential alcohol of at least 11.5% for ''frizzante'' and 12% for ''spumante'' (a

brix Degrees Brix (symbol °Bx) is a measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid, based on its specific gravity, and is commonly used to measure dissolved sugar content of a solution. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose solute dissolved in 100 grams ...

sugar level between 21–22°Bx).P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 130 Firefly Books 2004

Wine styles

Master of Wine Mary Ewing-Mulligan describes Brachetto d'Acqui as a very

aromatic In organic chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property describing the way in which a conjugated system, conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibits a stabilization stronger than would be expected from conjugati ...

sweet red wine that can have floral and fruit notes similar to Moscato d'Asti and Lambrusco.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 197–198 Hungry Minds 2001

References

{{reflist Italian DOCG Wines of Piedmont Acqui Terme