🍇 Brachetto

Brachetto is a red wine grape from Piedmont in north-western Italy. It is grown mainly in the provinces of Asti and Alessandria between the Bormida and Belbo rivers, and also in the province of Cuneo; in Canelli the variety is called Borgogna. VIVC gives 285 ha in Italy (1990) and 11 synonyms, including Bracchetto and Moscato nero.

According to VIVC's DNA markers, one parent is Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and the other is an unnamed cross involving the Piedmontese variety Avarengo. Ampelographers long confused the Piedmontese Brachetto with other vines of the same name, notably the French Braquet; the description in Italy's National Register of Grape Varieties notes that their traits do not match.

For the register, the variety was described from a clone in Bubbio (province of Asti), about 15 km from Acqui. The flowers are hermaphrodite and self-fertile; the bunches are medium-sized, cylindrical-pyramidal and compact. The berries are medium-sized, 13–14 mm across, violet-black, with a heavy bloom and an aroma recalling muscat and a little rose. The variety ripens in the second half of September; the vine has moderate vigour, and the crop is regular but not abundant. The berries resist rot well, both on the vine and while drying on mats, and the variety suffers little from winter frost.

Why it matters to you. The main wine is Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG, still and sparkling (spumante): light, sweet, low in alcohol (5–7 %), deep pink, with notes of raspberry and strawberry. It is served with sweet desserts; less often, Brachetto is made into a dry wine or a passito, and in Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG it may make up to 10 % of the blend.