Brachetto

The name Brachetto has been attached to several unrelated vines, and the variety discussed here is properly called Brachetto del Piemonte. Its origin is uncertain, but it most likely arose in the Monferrato hills, across the Alessandria and Asti provinces, and the nineteenth-century Piedmontese ampelographer Giuseppe di Rovasenda described it in 1877. Local tradition ties Acqui to the Roman-era Vinum Acquense, but nothing shows that the modern variety supplied that wine.

Brachetto is not the same as Braquet Noir, the old red grape of Nice and Bellet in Provence, even though the names and some older literature suggest a link. Some databases name Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains as one parent, but parentage has not been firmly established and is best treated as unresolved. Molecular work in Piedmont in the late 1990s reportedly separated several local vines that were being sold under the Brachetto name.

The variety's modern fortunes track those of its appellation. Acqui gained DOC status in 1969, and DOCG status followed by ministerial decree of 24 April 1996, after a protection consortium had been formed in 1992. Arturo Bersano is credited with developing the tank-fermented sparkling style that made the wine popular; the appellation's own documents date this to the 1950s, while other accounts place it later. In 2001 Piemonte held about 1,280 ha of Brachetto, and the area registered for the DOCG has since been reported at more than 900 ha.

Brachetto ripens early with average to low yields and it is highly susceptible to viruses, which makes healthy planting material important. The DOCG rules restrict production to hillside vineyards on calcareous-clay marl, with espalier training (Guyot is the most common system), no forcing, and only emergency irrigation. New plantings must reach at least 4,000 vines per hectare. The base yield is 8 tonnes per hectare for all three types, which the region may raise by up to 20 percent in good years (ceiling 9.6 tonnes), except for passito. Grapes must reach 10 percent natural potential alcohol, or 12 percent before drying for passito. Soils differ across the zone: clay predominates around Nizza Monferrato and sand and silt in the Acqui area, and the rules credit these differences with shaping the aromas.

The principal wine is Brachetto d'Acqui Spumante, made by the tank method with fermentation interrupted to keep natural sugar, a fine persistent mousse and a sweetness range that the rules allow from extra brut to sweet. Commercial examples are typically sweet. The still Brachetto d'Acqui may carry a light prickle from fermentation carbon dioxide, up to 2.5 bar, and runs from dry to sweet; artificial carbonation is forbidden for all types. Passito is the rarest style: grapes are dried on the vine or in drying rooms, and the wine must reach 16 percent total alcohol (11 percent actual) with at least 50 g/l residual sugar. It cannot be released before 1 October of the year after harvest and may show wood notes. Dry Brachetto, still or sparkling, falls under Piemonte DOC and is made by a few producers; a rose version exists but is marginal.