WTN: 'Tavijn Ruché

Cascina 'Tavijn di Nadia Verrua 2013 Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato. Cloudy and violet-hued in the glass, floral nose laced with what I take to be a bit of leftover fermentation yeastiness (but no sign of secondary fermentation in bottle), which isn't terribly distracting and blows off in about ten minutes. The underlying wine is fresh and bright and Gamay-like on the surface, very floral, but with a savory, almost bloody element lurking beneath this, as well as even darker licorice notes, which come out especially well with a smoky, bacon-accented tomato sauce. The most distinctive Ruché I've had, (metaphorically) transparent despite being (literally) relatively opaque, vivid and immediate in its flavors, and it just keeps getting deeper and more interesting over the course of the bottle. I like it at least as much as the Crivelli, which is saying something. At $25, I'll be going back for more, and watching for Nadia Verrua's other bottlings.

Cascina 'Tavijn di Nadia Verrua 2013 Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato. Cloudy and violet-hued in the glass, floral nose laced with what I take to be a bit of leftover fermentation yeastiness (but no sign of secondary fermentation in bottle), which isn't terribly distracting and blows off in about ten minutes. The underlying wine is fresh and bright and Gamay-like on the surface, very floral, but with a savory, almost bloody element lurking beneath this, as well as even darker licorice notes, which come out especially well with a smoky, bacon-accented tomato sauce. The most distinctive Ruché I've had, (metaphorically) transparent despite being (literally) relatively opaque, vivid and immediate in its flavors, and it just keeps getting deeper and more interesting over the course of the bottle. I like it at least as much as the Crivelli, which is saying something. At $25, I'll be going back for more, and watching for Nadia Verrua's other bottlings.

Not a Ruche that I've tried, Patchen. Sounds like an ideal expression of that grape...a grape they should
be planting all up&down the coast in Calif.
Tom

Cascina 'Tavijn di Nadia Verrua 2013 Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato. Cloudy and violet-hued in the glass, floral nose laced with what I take to be a bit of leftover fermentation yeastiness (but no sign of secondary fermentation in bottle), which isn't terribly distracting and blows off in about ten minutes. The underlying wine is fresh and bright and Gamay-like on the surface, very floral, but with a savory, almost bloody element lurking beneath this, as well as even darker licorice notes, which come out especially well with a smoky, bacon-accented tomato sauce. The most distinctive Ruché I've had, (metaphorically) transparent despite being (literally) relatively opaque, vivid and immediate in its flavors, and it just keeps getting deeper and more interesting over the course of the bottle. I like it at least as much as the Crivelli, which is saying something. At $25, I'll be going back for more, and watching for Nadia Verrua's other bottlings.

Great note. Glad you liked it! Interesting comparison to gamay. I've always found the 'Tavijn Ruché to be darker and sturdier/more tannic than most gamay, although with a fair amount of juicy fruit as well, which is what makes it such a friendly food companion, especially for non-geeks. But I hardly have comprehensive experience, and this is reminding me/motivating me to drink more Ruché!

Rahsaan, I'd agree with your comparison with Gamay overall (with the exception of "more tannic"; this wine didn't seem particularly tannic at all). It was the aromatic profile and the initial impression on the palate that seemed Gamay-like to me, but what was so interesting was that this proved to be only the top layer of a wine that then became darker and deeper, as you say. Andrea and I played the "it's like a cross between Gamay and..." game for a few minutes before resigning ourselves, with great satisfaction, to enjoying it in its irreducible Ruché-ness...

We went through a boatload of '04 'Tavijn and then it disappeared from the shelves. I'd love to find it again as it was always so food friendly and vibrant although the nose was always the highlight for me.

FWIW, this was a Louis/Dressner import.

As luck would have it, I just received the Chambers St mailer for a Dressner sale and I picked up a couple of the 2014s.

I don't think that I've ever had a wine made from Ruché. How come that it slipped under my radar?

If it's any consolation, I hadn't had any until 2012! And hadn't had Freisa until 2014, and have still never tried Grignolino, which is probably like confessing that one has never read... well, not Hamlet, but maybe Coriolanus.

(Much Ado About Nothing, I suppose, would be Ugni Blanc?)

I thought I had tried grignolino (a couple of different bottlings from Heitz, dry and port style) until I posted about it and Randall Grahm commented that the Heitz "grignolino" is rumored to be brachetto!