The Ruche wine

 

Ruche, the aromatic, light bodied red varietal grape from Piedmont. It’s hardly known over here.

Sadly it gets lost in recognition and presence compared to the other well known reds from Piedmont made from the likes of Nebbiolo, Barbara, Dolcetta (and even Brachetto). Red wines from Piedmont made from varietals like Freisa, Grignolino and Ruche are by and large still a yet to be discovered endeavour among the local wine drinking population here. It is encouraging though to see local wine merchants making the effort to import and introduce these less familiar varietals to our wine drinking public.

2020 Crivelli Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG

This 2021 Crivelli Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG reveals a youthful bright ruby red colour with purple highlights in the glass.

Red rose aroma captures your attention first, followed by red berry and spice notes. The aromas does not come as bold (neither are they overwhelming), instead they offer a persistent and pleasant experience.

The body is light plus in weight with red fruits and spice being the prominent flavours. There’s ample acidity to keep the body alive and fresh. There’s a good presence of tannins in the body without the tannins being aggressive or harsh. A certain harmony in the body makes you want to finish the first pour quickly and happily reach for the second one. At 15% abv it’s certainly not a pushover sip.

I am happy to see this wine currently imported and sold in Singapore. You can find it via Luigi's Wines.

Wine bit:

This wine is produced in the Monferrato Astigiano area (located northeast of Asti). Among its communes,  Castagnole Monferrato and Scurzolengo stand out as important ones for Ruche wine production.

Happy sips!