If you've drunk Ruchè, chances are it came from here. The Morando family farms something like 130 hectares around Castagnole, grows roughly 60% of all the Ruchè there is, and their Laccento — a fuller, oak-touched version that has taken Gambero Rosso's Tre Bicchieri — is the wine that made the grape travel. Start softer with La Tradizione and work up. They don't stop at Ruchè, though: Nuda is a serious Barbera d'Asti Superiore, Lanfora a Grignolino aged in amphora, and there's a Barolo down in Serralunga and a Timorasso among the whites.
This is the big house of the appellation, not a garage operation, and it shows — the wine shop's open most of the year and the guided visit runs by reservation in Italian, English or German. Ring first, walk the vineyards that sit in one unbroken block, and taste the three Ruchès side by side; the argument over which you prefer is half the reason to come.