Ruchè begins with a parish priest. Don Giacomo Cauda planted a small plot beside the church in Castagnole in 1964 and kept the near-extinct grape alive; Luca Ferraris bought that vineyard — Vigna del Parroco, the only Ruchè cru the ministry recognises — in 2016, and it's the wine to reach for here. Alongside it sit the Clàsic, the everyday Ruchè the family started with, and Opera Prima, the riserva Luca first made in 2007 and named for his grandfather Martino. There's Barbera d'Asti and Moscato d'Asti too, and an Alta Langa if you want bubbles.
Luca took over abandoned hillsides at the end of the 1990s, when everyone else was leaving; today he and Chiara farm 50 hectares and bottle around 300,000 a year, but the visit still feels like family. Casa Ferraris, in the middle of the village, keeps a small Ruchè museum and a little cinema that tells the grape's story before you taste four wines with local cheese and salumi. Book ahead — Italian or English — and don't be surprised if the pour runs generous.