GRAPE:100%  Montepulciano
REGION: Teramo, Abruzzo 

GOOD TO KNOW: Who doesn’t know Emidio Pepe? The Pioneer of biodynamic winemaking in Italy, benchmark producer of Montepulciano and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. Emidio Pepe founded his winery in 1964, after working alongside his father and his grandfather which already back in 1889 where making wine at Casa Pepe. In the early stages, Emidio sold his wine from restaurant “door to restaurant doo, he would pop his head into the restaurant or wine shop and gently ask if they were interested in buying some. In the cases when the answer was ‘no’ he would smile and reply with a “manteniamoci giovani” “lets keep us young”! “Emidio Pepe works with only three types of grapes: Pecorino d’Abruzzo, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.” Emidio Pepe is a very singular producer, the red grapes are crushed by hand, the white grapes are crushed by foot”. It’s a family business, a beautiful family made by Emidio & Rosa Pepe, Sofia and Daniela and granddaughters Chiara and Elisa.
The winemaking regime at Pepe follows an uber-natural and artisanal path. Grapes are grown biodynamically, hand-harvested, hand-destemmed, naturally fermented and aged 18-24 months in glass-lined cement tanks. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered, without added SO2, and aged in their cellar, in bottles, for continued development. Before release, the Montepulciano bottles that are 10 or more years old are decanted by hand into new bottles and labeled.
TASTE: bright ruby color, is a very precise wine. Medium bodied, spicy aromas of red berries, dark plums, basil and cumin. In the mouth, explosion of acidity, fruity and tannins in an outmoding balance, smooth and long aftertaste.