Luca Ferraris Barbera d'Asti Del Martin 2022

The long and colorful history of the Ferraris family is almost too wild to believe: Luca’s great-grandfather went to California in search of his fortune during the Gold Rush, and made enough money to purchase an estate back in Monferrato in 1921. For decades the family sold grapes or made wine to sell in bulk until in the 1980s when Luca’s grandfather Martino passed away. Luca’s father, like many Italians of his generation, had left the countryside to raise his family in bustling Turin. He briefly returned to Monferrato to give farming a go, but it wasn’t to last. After a terrible hail storm in 1985 he threw in the towel as a farmer, but kept 9 rows of vines for the family.

Fast forward to 2001: Luca Ferraris finishes military service and decides to leave his home in Turin for the countryside to cultivate a little-known indigenous grape called Ruchè. As luck would have it, a chance encounter with Randall Graham at Vin Italy in 2002 led to an odd fax from Bonny Doon later that year: Randall wanted 1000 cases of Luca’s Ruchè for his Ca del Solo project. The business with Randall helped launch Luca's business, giving him the possibility to invest in his beloved Ruche variety. By 2007, when Randall sold Ca del Solo, Luca had assumed the identity of Mister Ruchè—his name is inextricable from the variety. Wine Spectator describes the grape: “I imagine (Ruchè) as the love-child of Nebbiolo and (another rare aromatic Piedmont red) Brachetto. Rose petal, anise and cardamom perfume that mercifully doesn’t cloy in virtue of its slight astringency.” 

Luca has become an ambassador, passionate advocate and qualitative leader in the hills of Monferrato, as well as the president of the producers association. More well-known in the area is the Barbera grape, which Luca also produces. His Del Martin is made of 100% Barbera from a vineyard located in the Montegrosso d’Asti production area with soils that are a mix of limestone, clay, and marl at an altitude of 200-230 meters above sea level.

The inaugural Vintage of Luca's Del Martin Barbera d'Asti was 2002 and annual production runs at about a modest 3,500 cases.