The Montalbera Winery was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century in an area between the municipalities of Grana, Castagnole Monferrato and Montemagno. Towards the mid-eighties, the Morando family adopted a policy of expansion that was not yet completed, with the acquisition of neighboring land and the direct planting of new vineyards, mainly in Ruchè. Today the company is surrounded by its 115 hectares vineyards arranged in a circular shape in a single body in an entirely hilly position, with different exposures and soils ranging from clayey to limestone. The Morando family has its roots in the Langhe and this bond could not fail to be expressed in the vineyard and in the cellar. Castiglione Tinella, the place of origin of the founder Enrico Riccardo Morando, is home to about 10 hectares of vineyards planted with Moscato d'Asti. And it is from these vineyards that Montalbera produces Moscato d'Asti DOCG San Carlo, which takes its name from the ancient church of San Carlo, which is located a few meters from the birthplace of the family founder.  

Ruchè di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG is a wine with an unmistakable character; The pleasant floral hints of rose and violet, the fruity notes of apricot and the spiciness that emerges with evolution make it immediately recognizable in the glass. Montalbera has always believed in Ruchè and its uniqueness. For this reason, the company has chosen to invest in research capable of tracing the genetic license of a grape variety with uncertain origins and often placed next to other varieties that are actually very distant in terroir and expression. The aim of the work (carried out by the Bioaesis laboratory in Ancona) was to use DNA as an invisible barcode to determine the genetic traceability of the grape variety.

All the analyses carried out confirmed that Ruchè has its own characteristic genetic structure and different from the other varieties of vines in the databases.

Nowadays the winery is run by the third generation Franco Morando and the total production counts around 500 000 bottles of the highest quality wines.  The wine portfolio comprises the Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG as the 60% of its wine range, the Nizza DOCG, the Barbera d’Asti superiore DOCG, the Grignolino d’Asti DOC, the Barolo DOCG, the Barbaresco DOCG, the Piemonte DOC Viognier, Timorasso DOC Derthona, as well as the sparkling wines both in Charmat and classical method wines, the sweet wines of Passito of Ruche and Moscato d’Asti DOCG.