As Senator Viktor Hugo once said, “The horizon is the line that underlines the infinite,” and in the infinite horizon of the indigenous ampelography of Italian Vitis, there is also the ‘Ruzzese’ – an ancient and extremely rare white grape variety from Liguria. It continues to thrive on the high hills of the La Spezia province, overlooking the horizon of the Ligurian Sea, with only 1500 plants.
Yes, just 1500 plants! These vines symbolize both the present and the future of this age-old grape variety.
The term ‘Ruzzese,’ ‘Racese,’ or ‘Razzese’ in the local dialect has an ancient history. It originated around the 6th century AD on the Ligurian coasts, especially in the Cinque Terre and the eastern part of Liguria. It was cultivated and produced exclusively as a passito wine and quickly became popular among Ligurian cultivators, reaching the Roman market and gaining prominence in prestigious places, eventually making its way to the coveted papal table in the Vatican.
Legend has it that even Pope Paul III Farnese, in office from 1534 to 1549, was enamored with this wine, recommended by his cellarer (somewhat akin to a sommelier of that time), Sante Lancerio, who considered Ruzzese one of the best wines in Italy.
The splendor of this indigenous variety continued in the four centuries that followed, during which the wine was even used as a “sweetening” condiment in soups at the Vatican. However, like many European non-rootstock vines, the advent of phylloxera in the early 1900s led to the extinction of Ruzzese.
A long period of disappearance ensued until the early 2000s. In 2007, the Liguria Region, in collaboration with the National Research Council of Turin and the National Institute of Sustainable Protection of Vines, initiated a research project on the historical indigenous grape varieties of Liguria. During their studies, in the municipality of Arcola, researchers found a mysterious mother plant, and genetic studies confirmed that it was indeed Ruzzese.
Despite the discovery by scholars, this grape variety remained unused until 2015 when Davide Zoppi and Giuseppe Luciano Aieta, both owners of the ‘Cà du Ferrà’ winery, decided to reintroduce the vines to their estate in Bonassola, on the gentle hills overlooking the Ligurian Gulf in the Province of La Spezia. Initially, they replanted 77 vines, gradually increasing to the current 1500 over five years, with a south-facing open-sun exposure to promote the overripening of the grapes. After a few years, in 2020, their winery was finally able to resume winemaking of this significant oenological excellence in Liguria (after more than a century of hiatus).
Today, the two entrepreneurs produce 500 bottles of this wine, strictly in the passito version, in total respect of the tradition and history of this variety. The label is named ‘diciassettemaggio,’ earning them the “Ethical Winemaker” award at Vinitaly 2022 for their commitment and dedication to rediscovering and enhancing Ruzzese. They also plan to invest efforts in rediscovering other ancient Ligurian indigenous varieties.
Thanks to the work of Davide and Giuseppe, in December 2022, the “Slow Food Community for the Protection and Enhancement of Ruzzese del Levante Ligure” was established in Bonassola, bringing Ruzzese into the renowned Slow Food network.
Morphologically, this grape variety has an open apex shoot covered with abundant tomentum with pink edges. The herbaceous shoot has a completely reddened axis on the dorsal side and is streaked with red on the ventral side. The leaf is orbicular or cuneiform, and the cluster consists of medium-small ellipsoidal-shaped berries, forming medium-sized cylindrical elongated clusters, often with one or two wings.
