2019 La Miraja Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato Piedmont 750 ml

When we in America think of Italian wine, it’s easy to only conjure only a few well-known styles that dominate the international imagination. But as anyone who's ventured the backroads already knows, the real Italy is a land of a thousand microcosms, a hodgepodge of dialects and traditions, each with its own deep strata of hidden charms. 

The La Miraja winery operates in an 11th century castle at the heart of a pastoral hill-and-vale region in northern Piedmont, far from the famous enclaves of Barolo and Barbaresco, that for centuries harbored one of the great local secrets in all of Italy: an indigenous red grape variety known as Ruchè. As a Decanter feature put it recently, locals see it as the area’s “greatest treasure.” 

Its wine, now called Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG, was traditionally reserved for major celebrations and as an offering to special visitors—the kind of local delicacy that anchors a weary traveler's memory and that comes to distinguish a place among its many neighbors. Intensely perfumed and delectably spicey, with enough grip to make a grown man blush (Nebbiolo fans will be seduced immediately), Ruchè has helped reveal the soul and define the character of the Castagnole Monferrato people since the middle ages. 

Until very recently the wine remained a hyper-local specialty. But today, as a rare treat, we are thrilled to ship one of its most exuberant expressions to Wine Access members. With only around 800 cases made each year, and most of those staying close to home, the La Miraja Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato is one of those brilliant finds that makes the wine trail worth every stumble. It lies at the heart of the region’s identity and helps define one of the wine world’s most pleasantly idiosyncratic appellations. A true lifer wine.

It pours a shimmering deep pink color in the glass, giving off a powerful, heady scent like ambling through a rose garden. Hints of citrus lift it a little higher, leading to a tension between the wine's lively freshness, its profound red-fruit profile punctuated by a peppery spice, and the punch of slightly piquant tannins that give the wine its vibrant finish. 

Ruchè's history is shrouded in mystery. The name has no clear origin, only a swirl of rumors and half-truths that draw on legends of saints and a vinous scourge. DNA testing has ruled out a Burgundian heritage but only loosely related it to other obscure regional varieties. Experts now believe the vine was cultivated in Castagnole Monferrato, with its castle on the ridge playing a major role, having converted its armory to a wine cellar in the 1400s. 

La Miraja, now occupying that site, boasts the world's oldest Ruchè vines, dating back to 1972. Before that the grape had nearly disappeared entirely. Even as late as the turn of this century, only 125 acres stood under Ruchè vine. But the wine was afforded DOCG status in 2010, making it one of Italy's official top wines. And today, its fame has begun to reach throughout lo Stivale and finally beyond Italy's borders. 

Winemaker Eugenio Gatti and his team hand harvest the fruit and basket press the juice into stainless steel tanks, preserving the freshness of the grapes but allowing more than a week of skin contact for maturation of the grape's famed polyphenolic aspects—the long chains of molecules that give the wine its signature floral-aromatic intensity and intricate tannic structure. It’s released after several months aging, first in concrete tanks and finally in the bottle, sharpening the wine's focus and bringing its fine-grained texture to life.

Excellent with veiny cheeses, roasted root vegetables, or Pasta alla Norma.