2001 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (Italian release)

Great old vintages of Emidio Pepe Montepulcianos are still available and relatively easy to find, a rarity with most Italian wines.

Emidio Pepe's approach to winemaking is quite possibly the most unconventional I have yet encountered. Pepe treats his fruit and the resulting wines with the utmost care. All operations are meticulously carried out by hand. The estate farms its 7 hectares following bio-dynamic principles. For the Trebbiano the grapes are crushed by foot in a wood vat and the must is fermented for 8-10 days in glass-lined cement. After fermentation the wine is racked into 22-hectoliter glass-lined cement tanks where it ages for roughly six months prior to being bottled. The Montepulciano is fermented for about 10-12 days and subsequently aged for 24 months in glass-lined cement, which Pepe prefers over oak. Both wines are fermented without the aid of selected yeasts or temperature control. The wines are bottled with no SO2 and laid down to rest for several years in the cellar which holds extensive stocks of virtually all past vintages. As they age in bottle the wines undergo malolactic fermentation naturally. Before being released the bottles are opened and decanted one by one into new bottles after which they are re-corked, labeled and shipped. There is no fining, filtration or SO2 added during the second bottling. These are among the most unique and age-worthy wines being made in Italy. Unfortunately the practice of releasing small batches of the wines over the course of many years leads to a higher amount of bottle variation than is normal these days. That notwithstanding, tasting a well-preserved bottle of Emidio Pepe's Montepulciano is a real treat as the wines can be superb. Readers who want to learn more about the wines of Emidio Pepe might want to check out my in-depth article available on this site.

Bucking every trend and modern convention, the wines of Emidio Pepe represent one of the most singular expressions in winemaking today. That can't be too surprising given that Pepe himself is quite a personality. Initially somewhat stern, he seems to live in world long gone by. Pepe doesn't say much except that all his wines are excellent and that he only drinks his own. Fortunately the wines speak for themselves. In a time of increasing convergence these wines stand out for their unique style, artisan approach and notable purity. Though the extremely traditional approach may not be for everyone, readers looking for wines that offer much complexity and evolution in the glass owe it to themselves to check out the wines of Emidio Pepe. I recently had the opportunity to survey a broad array of the estate's wines with Pepe's daughter Sofia and importer Doug Polaner in New York. The property is located in the hills of Torano Nuovo in the Abruzzo region. “We are lucky to be in an area that is both close to the sea and to the mountains,” says Pepe's daughter Sofia. “The proximity to the ocean is felt in the salinity of the wines while the mountain breezes bring respite from the heat in the evenings. The temperature fluctuations we get from the hot days and cool nights are essential for the grapes to mature gradually.We try to make wines that faithfully represent the character of each vintage, so the wines are typically very different from year to year.” Pepe's approach to winemaking is quite possibly the most unconventional I have yet encountered. Pepe treats his fruit and the resulting wines with the utmost care. All operations are meticulously carried out by hand. The estate farms its 7 hectares following bio-dynamic principles. The grapes are hand picked and de-stemmed. For the Trebbiano the grapes are crushed by foot in a wood vat and the must is fermented for 8-10 days in glass-lined cement. After fermentation the wine is racked into 22-hectoliter glass-lined cement tanks where it ages for roughly six months prior to being bottled.
The Montepulciano is fermented for about 10-12 days and subsequently aged for 24 months in glass-lined cement, which Pepe prefers over oak. “I think glass is the best medium for aging wines. It is no coincidence that extended bottle-aging is what allows wines to develop their fullest complexity,” adds Emidio Pepe. Both wines are fermented without the aid of selected yeasts or temperature control. The wines are bottled with no SO2 and laid down to rest for several years in the cellar which holds extensive stocks of virtually all past vintages. As they age in bottle the wines undergo malolactic fermentation naturally. Before being released the bottles are opened and decanted one by one into new bottles after which they are re-corked, labeled and shipped. There is no fining, filtration or SO2 added during the second bottling. Pepe's fanaticism extends to storage and when I saw him in New York recently he complained that temperature controlled rooms common in the city's top wine shops were too cold for his wines which he views as living creatures. Like Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, Montepulciano benefits from the kind of extended growing season that balanced weather provides. Specifically with regards to Pepe's wines, the fresher vintages give wines of rich color, aromatic complexity, vibrant fruit and notable structure that allow the wines to age effortlessly for decades. In warmer vintages the wines often show less liveliness in color, riper fruit and a rustic, gamey character which I find less appealing. Around age ten or so the aging curve seems to flatten and the wines begin to approach maturity. In general I find Pepe's wines from the cooler vintages to offer more balance as well as elegance although the warmer vintages have also proven to age well, if slightly less gracefully. While these are unique wines, there can be little doubt that the practice of releasing small batches of the wines over the course of many years almost certainly leads to bottle variation. I have never done a side-by-side comparison but it would seem likely that, for example, a properly cellared bottle of the 1979 Montepulciano purchased upon release will differ somewhat from a recently released bottle of that vintage which has spent the intervening years aging in Pepe's cellar prior to undergoing the re-conditioning program and being issued from the winery. For that reason, these notes and scores should be interpreted as general impressions rather than the more precise evaluations that are possible with most other wines. That said, these are fascinating, quirky wines that represent a singular approach to winemaking.