Montalbera | La Tradizione 2010

PV Tasting Notes

Clear ruby red in colour, intensely aromatic on the nose, scents of rose petal, talcum powder, Parma violets, cinnamon, pepper and sweet herbs. A delicate and very feminine wine which possesses a lovely balance and very attractive personality, elegant, graceful and with delightful rose petal, red cherry and tree bark flavours, very fresh and fruity, persistent and seamless on the finish. Tasted February 2010.

Perfect for Risotto or Spaghetti with truffles, interesting salads like butter bean, grilled Courgette, roast red pepper and Chorizo, bacon and mushroom pasta, or Pasta with Asparagus, any ragu, rabbit, veal, pork, almost in any form, this is a very versatile grape and will match so many foods.

Azienda Agricola Montalbera was started at the beginning of the 20^th Century. They have had a single goal for the past decade, “taste for excellence” and have set about achieving this goal with a really obscure grape varietal. Makes you think, they’re either crazy or geniuses, but decidedly full of passion. Still virtually unknown outside of Italy, but becoming recognised within the country by all of the wine guides, it will not be long before Montalbera gain the international recognition they truly deserve. Planted predominately with Ruche and a certain amount of Grignolino, they currently produce 55% of worldwide production of Ruche, I suppose it would naturally figure that they would be the best with this varietal, but recent inward investment developments and increases in quality have been nothing short of stellar. Their goal is now to present Ruche as “the other face of Piedmont” competing with Barolo and Barbaresco, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know if this is possible, but for pure drinkability and early appeal, these offer instant hedonistic appeal.