Montalbera

Franco Morando speaks for himself and his company.

Longevity

It's untrue that Ruché is short-lived and cannot endure. After due consideration, no objections can be made about traditional vinifications that must have the typical qualities of fresh cheerful wine. Nonetheless the native wine we are talking about has a "beautiful and extraordinary" evolution throughout time when using select grapes from Bricchi using oenological techniques that are more refined and researched than the ones used on the Traditional Wines. Even after many years of aging, this wine is still offers lovely sensations because of its interesting organoleptic evolution and great capability to hold freshness.

With a slow evolution and aging process, you will no longer taste the typical delightfully fruity aromas; but in their stead you will experience an ultra-silkiness and warmth during tasting, followed by spicy nuances of rare elegance associated with the caramelized sugar content typical of over-ripening. The color changes, it practically grows and evolves. As opposed to ruby red, dazzlingly bright and purplish, you will find a ruby red tending toward garnet with a few purplish highlights of brilliance.

However, one should avoid mythicizing the aging process to avoid being stuck with obsolete bottles.

"What matters most is not the duration of the wine, but its ability to improve and evolve in the bottle".

It could be advantageous to wait a few years before opening the bottle in order to allow the wine to reach full maturity.

"When giving advice to friends who make wine, I have often stressed the importance of aging Ruché. I firmly believe that it is 'right' for Ruché to be fresh and cheerful... but not new!!! The Traditional Wines need at least 3-4 months of repose/aging, whereas the Selected Wines from Bricchi on high land with good exposure and special harvesting practices (sometimes picking the grapes when they are overripe) need to age at least 12-16 months, and even more if they are touched by a "hint of wood".

These may seem like big words to associate with Ruché, but experience tells me that wine should be put on the market only when it is ready. I believe I am probably one of the last winemakers, maybe the last indeed, to present the new vintages. My Ruché needs rest and respect, even the simpler products, i.e. the Traditional Wines. I recognize it when tasting… the floral note starts to become inebriated with a hint of spiciness... 'This is the proper and propitious moment' for official presentation.

The lifespan of the wine is like that of humans. After youth comes maturity and after maturity we inevitably encounter old age... and the end. Wine is life, it is a living substance, and it too will die sooner or later...

I always like to tell an anecdote about a highly competent world-famous enologist. He was a professional with incredible farsightedness, particularly for the wines produced in the Monferrato. During a tasting session of Ruché from 1990 (an exceptional vintage, according to what I read from the documents of the era, though I was only 10 years old at the time) I asked him... how is it? ... to which he answered in his usual simple straightforward way ... 'It is still elegant, it had an extremely interesting evolution...' So I asked him again... I don't quite understand, how is it? ... And he answered... "You see, Franco, when you meet a woman who's 60 years old, you can say she's beautiful and pleasant but you can never compare her to a 20-year-old". From that moment on I understood the concept of "wine longevity"..."

Italiano