WTN: Ruché!

2010 Giuseppe Rinaldi Ruché Langhe Rosae
This was phenomenally good. It has an amazingly perfumed aroma, one that suggests a light and sweetly fruity wine. Therefore the palate is a bit of a shock since it was so strongly tannic, high in acidity and delightfully fruitless. Why is this grape so little grown and almost impossible to find? This smells more sexy and alluring than most Nebbiolo and it has Nebbiolo's tough, tannic, palate-cleansing palate. This is a fantastic wine if one has some fatty pork products and cheese on the plate. And just 15€ including postage from Germany!

You bought it from Germany instead of Italy?

I too love the examples of Ruché that I've had. They don't strike me as noble as nebbiolo, although most of the prime land in Piedmont is probably planted to nebbiolo and I don't pretend to understand the grape Ruché in any real depth. But they have all been fun fun fun.

[David M. Bueker]

Delightfully fruitless?

Should the grape be called Roccia?

2010 Giuseppe Rinaldi Ruché Langhe Rosae
This was phenomenally good. It has an amazingly perfumed aroma, one that suggests a light and sweetly fruity wine. Therefore the palate is a bit of a shock since it was so strongly tannic, high in acidity and delightfully fruitless. Why is this grape so little grown and almost impossible to find? This smells more sexy and alluring than most Nebbiolo and it has Nebbiolo's tough, tannic, palate-cleansing palate. This is a fantastic wine if one has some fatty pork products and cheese on the plate. And just 15€ including postage from Germany!

Yup, Otto....pretty much nailed this grape. Ruche (sometimes spelled Ruchet) is a grape I discovered back in the mid '70's when DarrellCorti
insisted I try one he'd just got in from Scarpa. I've not had the Rinaldi before. Surprised it was so strongly tannic. Most just have a mild tannic
bite to them. Have three (dacapo Majoli, il Cavaliere, and Osel) on my lineup to taste.
Ruche is an amazing grape because of its aromatics. There are a number of Italian varieties that I love because of their fragrant aromatics:
Ruche, Brachetto, Freisa, Marzemino. MoscatoRosa. Some are made in a frizzante version and can be quite delightful. I wish more of these varieties were planted,
not just in Italy, but also in Calif. But you can understand why they go with Nebbiolo...that's were you can milk the market for $$'s. Sometimes/
oftentimes winemakers are just not interested in making something that just good to drink.
Tom

We were lucky enough to visit the winery last December, tasted the 2011 version of this wine, and bought a bottle which we happily drank later on the trip to accompany some salumi and cheese. Just a delightful, happy, floral, minerally wine. Rinaldi also makes a terrific Freisa. Sadly (for those of us living in the U.S.), I don't believe they export either one across the Atlantic.

When we where there, they had sold out of their Barolo, but they were kind enough to give us a taste from barrel -- also delicious. An outstanding, traditional winery.

Another fan of Ruche' here. Gloriously good drinking with tannic snap, lean structure and savory fruit.

You bought it from Germany instead of Italy?
I too love the examples of Ruché that I've had. [...] But they have all been fun fun fun.

Yes. There's a good shop in Germany called Barolobrunello that has good prices and so much cheaper postage to Finland than any shop I know of in Italy. And yes, this was serious fun.

David, what's wrong with fruitlessness? I do appreciate purity of fruit, but sometimes such a wine with no obvious fruit but with so much other interesting stuff going on is wonderful. Roccie? As in it rocks? Then, yes.

Tom, it's interesting you say that it's not usually so tannic. My friend who opened the bottle and who has drunk much more Ruché said that it is usually a fairly tannic grape.

Bruce, I agree, their Freisa is delightful. Though I've had a huge problem with cork taint in several vintages of the Friesa.

There's a good shop in Germany called Barolobrunello...

Thanks for that. Looks promising. I'm going to be in that area this summer so may check it out, or at least the delivery/mail order seems very efficient.

Rahsaan, also check out superiore.de if you're in that area during the summer. I've also had no problems ordering from them and they have occasionally have some fun wines.

Hi Otto -

Thank you for the note. I was not aware at all of a G. Rinaldi Ruché (assuming that this is the excellent traditional Barolo producer).

At any rate, this is a grape that I would make an effort to try more from if such wines were more available. I've liked the Cantine Sant’Agata Ruché (from Castagnole Monferrato ) in the past, but have not seen any others recently.

...I was not aware at all of a G. Rinaldi Ruché (assuming that this is the excellent traditional Barolo producer)...

Your assumption is correct. And no reason to be aware of it -- they don't export it to the U.S. and it's not labeled Ruché either.