Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
from grace was due to practically minded farm-
ers not wanting to bother with an earlier-ripen-
ing variety than Fiano or Greco, which sub-
jected them to the extra work of two harvests.
board since the 2010 vintage, and it remains to
be seen what this passing of the guard might
entail.
wines to try:
Cantine Lonardo / Contrade di
Taurasi** (Grecomusc'; the 2004 is lovely, with
aromas and fl avors of candied ginger, saffron,
toasted hazelnut, sage, and diesel fuel; but the
2008 and 2009 are better, riesling-like in their
fresh citrus, white pepper, and diesel-fuel
notes).
Which Wines to Choose and Why
The wine has generated considerable interest
lately and so Roviello is increasingly planted.
It's a very diffi cult variety in the cellar, as the
thick skins and sparse pulp make for plenty of
polyphenols and solids. While these can easily
oxidize or make for bitter wines, high polyphe-
nol concentrations also allow for potential age-
worthiness (2004 and 2005 vintages tasted in
late 2012 were still in excellent shape).
Roviello is an aromatic variety, so the wines
are reminiscent of those made with Muscat or
Gewürztraminer. But Roviello isn't nearly as
aromatic, and there are obvious differences in
the aromatic profi les of each wine. Roviello
wines have strong fl int, almond, grass, and
apple aromas and fl avors, complicated by aro-
matic spices, though much depends on how the
wine is made. In my opinion, its aromas are
more herbal-fl oral than fruity. In an extremely
interesting study, chemical analysis of Roviello
wines showed high concentrations of furfural
(a molecule that brings toasted almonds to
mind), phenylethylalcohol and 3-methyl-tiopro-
panol (explaining the nuances of rose and
spices), and isoamylic acids formed during fer-
mentation and associated with aromas of grass
and unripe fruit, with hints of butter (Fran-
cesca, Monaco, Romano, Lonardo, de Simone,
and Moschetti 2009).
The benchmark for the variety comes from
Cantine Lonardo / Contrade di Taurasi. But
because winemaker Maurizio De Simone has
thus far employed different winemaking tech-
niques, the jury is out on what the exact charac-
teristics of a good roviello might be. From 2004
to 2007, their wines were not monovarietal
(they included small percentages of Coda di
Volpe, Fiano, and Moscatella); the 2004 spent
two to three months in
barrique
s, while the
2005-7 wines were aged in
tonneaux.
A new
winemaker, Vincenzo Mercurio, has been on
Ruché
where it's found:
Piedmont.
national reg-
istry code number:
313.
color:
red.
If there is one Italian grape that wine lovers
really ought to know, it is Ruché. A rare exam-
ple of an aromatic red variety, Ruché makes
wines that are impossible to confuse with any
other variety, despite superfi cial resemblance
with wines made with Lacrima or Brachetto
(when the latter has been fermented dry).
Ruché is probably native to Piedmont,
though many hypothesize that it arrived in
Piedmont from Burgundy in the eighteenth
century. There is no proof of this, and those
who point to the French spelling of the name
(Rouchet), which is still in use in Piedmont but
rarely, forget that Piedmont itself has French
roots. The name Ruché is believed to derive
from the word
roncet,
a viral degeneration that
the grape is far more resistant to than are other
local varieties, such as Barbera. Today Ruché is
believed to have developed in the hills north-
west of Asti. The site, once known as Castagno-
lis Casalensis, today belongs to the commune
of Castagnole Monferrato, where most Ruché
wines are made today. Unfortunately, as there
is practically no documentary evidence availa-
ble, the history of Ruché can only be traced via
oral traditions that have been handed down
from one generation to the next.
Franco Cavallero, co-owner of the Cantina
Sant'Agata estate with his brother Claudio,
remembers that in the early to mid-twentieth
century people weren't quite sure how to use
