The Montalbera 2018 Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato Laccento offers an interesting combination of licorice, zesty fruit, red currant and balsam herb. This is a distinctive wine that veers from savory aromas to some sweet tones of candied almond and dried apricot. I could see this wine pairing with a delightful North African tajine in which meat is stewed with either preserved lemon or prunes. Production of this wine is 89,000 bottles. On the close, the wine is lean and crisp.

The 2015 Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato Laccento is embedded with deeply floral perfumes of rose petal and hibiscus that give this wine (and this unique grape variety) its special distinction within the panorama of Vino Italiano. Ruchè shows a medium-dark and saturated appearance with soft tannins and more floral intensity on the close.

Laccento (from the Bricco Montalbera cru) is a luminous, ruby-colored wine with fresh aromas of raspberry, spice, cola, pressed violets and crushed black pepper. The wine is crisp and sharp with a good capacity to refresh the palate after cheesy or fatty foods.——M.L.(12/1/2010)—— 88