The history of this variety curiously named, typical of Asti surroundings in Piedmont, does not go back through centuries.  The first mention of this variety dates, in fact, to 1834, when the famous pomologist Giorgio Gallesio meets a 'Roché' in Portacomaro (Asti) during his travels addressed the inventory of fruit varieties  (Gallesio, 1995). In other historical documents Ruché is mentioned under the synonym of Moscatellina (or Moscatellino), the name used in the Alessandria province, an area close to the one where Ruché is currently cultivated (Schneider et al., 2003).

A ‘Moscatellino’ was in fact noted by Giorgio Gallesio in Valenza (Alessandria) in 1831, during another of his inspections (cited book). A quotation even older (although dubious) is the one from Giuseppe Acerbi, who reported in 1825 a 'Moscatello raro' among the grapes from Valenza.  We cannot be sure if this ‘Moscatello nero’ corresponded to our Moscatellina or Ruché.  The two synonyms Moscatellina or Ruché prevailed according to the area: in the west, near  Asti, the variety was called  Ruché, while it was known as Moscatellina moving towards east. Then, the name of Ruché disappeared from historic documents, where only Moscatellina-Moscatellino are mentioned later. Perhaps Ruché has to be identified with the 'Moscatellino rosso' described by Demaria and Leardi (1875), a minor variety grown near Casale Monferrato.

The first morphology description of Ruché is the one included in the monograph about grape varieties from Piedmont (Schneider et al., 2006). Because of the absence of former comprehensive descriptions, this one should be regarded as a reference for this variety. It is in fact displayed the website of the Italian  Grape Variety Catalogue (http : //catalogoviti.politicheagricole.it/catalogo.php).

Ruché growing area is around 100 hectares (ISTAT, 2010), all planted in Piedmont and almost all included in the POD (DOCG) appellation ‘Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato’. Tiny plots of Moscatellina (the historical synonym) still exist. The wine from Moscatellina was once called Romitagi by some. The name Romitagi likely came from Hermitage, considered a renown wine area, although there are no connections of this variety with the Rhone Valley.

Ruché vines have moderate vigor and good productivity (albeit irregular from year to year). Grapes have a medium to high sugar content, good acidity, an average quantity of anthocyanins (where malvina prevails), and a moderate terpene amount, mainly due to geraniol and nerol as other Piedmontese aromatic red grapes (Mannini et al., 2012).

A very special wine is obtained from Ruché. It has a bright ruby color, high alcohol, and an intense bouquet floral (rose) and spicy scented, interestingly contrasting with the dry but not astringent taste, and the long aftertaste. Ruché grapes can also be used to produce a sweet or semi-sweet wine, pleasantly fragrant of rose and small berries.