The Montepulciano d'Abruzzo of Emidio Pepe
at Joe & Magda's, NYC (6/1/2012)
Azienda Agricola Emidio Pepe
is a historic winery in the town of Torano Nuovo in the province of Teramo in the region of Abruzzo.
The winery is located about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea on the east coast of Italy.
It produces three wines: a white from the
Trebbiano d'Abruzzo grape,
and a rose (Cerasuolo) and a red from the
Montepulciano grape.
This tasting focused on 12 vintages of the red Montepulciano d'Abruzzo from 1974 to 2007.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
The winery was founded by the first Emidio Pepe in 1899.
His son, Giuseppe, then ran the winery.
Then in 1964, the current Emidio Pepe began running the winery.
Soon joined by his wife Rosa.
Today his daughters Daniela and Sofia have joined him in the business.
This was a rare opportunity to try a fairly full vertical this traditional and naturally made wine.
The U.S. importer, Polaner Selections
says the grapes are grown biodynamically, hand-harvested, hand-destemmed, naturally fermented and
aged 18-24 months in glass-lined tanks. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered, without added SO2,
and aged in their cellar, in bottle, for continued development.
Before release, the wines are decanted by hand into new bottles, and then labeled.
Or as stated rather poetically on the winery website:
Picked by hand,
Pressed by young ladies' feet,
The grapes become must,
And the must becomes wine,
And it seems that nature does it all.
This dinner turned out to be a glorious event, but with one sad note in that it was initiated by Steve H
who provided about half the bottles, but was not well enough to participate due to a nasty cold.
All Pepe reds double decanted around 5 pm. Dinner started at close to 9pm and ended close to midnight.
Joe's wife Magda is a professional chef of the first order.
She prepared this glorious meal made almost entirely of traditional dishes from Abruzzo,
which were well-matched to the wines.
Visit her Cooking School cucinettaNYC.
Some of the food photos below are by Magda.
Starter: One White Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
With Prosciutto, Spicy Sopressata, Homemade Ricotta Crostini with Roast Peppers, Pizza Bianca and Bresaola.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
-
1995 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
Dark gold color. Smokey melon nose. Somewhat muted up front but the finish is expansive and exciting.
A wow wine! (95 pts.)
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Flight 1: 1970s
With Pasta with Red Pepper and Lamb Ragu.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
-
1974 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Lovely complex fruit and earth mulch. Has an earthy, almost dirty quality that I'm sure is not for everyone,
but I love it. A wine of great character with lots of forest floor and a surprising amount of juicy red fruit
given that it is nearly 40 years old. WOTN for me and the group. (97 pts.)
-
1975 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Muted black raspberry nose. Tart cherry in the mouth.
Still tight and somewhat monolithic at 37 years of age. Will it get better with more time? Maybe.
Perhaps 92 points or more if it opens up more. (92 pts.)
-
1977 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Stunningly complex nose of red fruit, earth, and truffles.
Sweet and sour cherry with long finish of complex black fruit and orange peel.
Should drink well for another decade or more. (95 pts.)
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Flight 2: 1980s
With Double Rib Lamb Chop with Salsa Verde and Chicory with Puntarelle Dressing.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
-
1979 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Corked. Sadly undrinkable. (NR/flawed)
-
1980 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Complex, slightly medicinal cherry nose. Tart in the mouth, but appealing. (92 pts.)
-
1982 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Muted nose of black fruit and grilled beef. Long finish, but still somewhat backward.
Could use 5-10 years more to fully show itself. (95 pts.)
-
1985 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Red fruit and raw beef nose. Rich tart red fruit. Needs another decade.
92-95 points eventually. (93 pts.)
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Flight 3: Late 1990s - Early 2000s
With Agnello Cacio e Uova con Scarola (Lamb with Cheese and Eggs [a traditional Easter dish] with Escarole)
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
-
1998 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Ripe juicy red and black fruit. Long but tight. Hard to judge, but in light of the above,
I would bet on a very long future. (93 pts.)
-
2000 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Gorgeous slightly medicinal red plum nose. Licorice and black fruit.
Very young and tannic, but still easy to appreciate its potential. 94-95 points.
(94 pts.)
-
2002 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
So young! Ripe and juicy and very tasty, but so young it is hard to judge.
The cork has the date 2012 on it, which we assume means that it was just bottled.
Sure doesn't seem a decade old. (92 pts.)
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Flight 4: Later 2000s and an Aldo Conterno
With Pecorino Cheeses from Abruzzo.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
-
2003 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Young, rich and tannic, but it is also a touch fizzy. An odd wine or a natural wine at an odd state.
Not rated.
[I've since had 2 bottles of this wine in 11/2013 which were sound and outstanding.
Both rated 95 points.]
-
2007 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo - Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Very young. Very hard to judge. Seems to have lots of fruit and saddle leather. Needs 20 years.
Buy on faith if you are young and love these wines. (93 pts.)
-
1988 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Riserva Granbussia
- Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Dried cherry nose. Dried out tart cherry in the mouth. Not much pleasure.
This wine should still show well, but not this bottle. Maybe it was cooked.
Not a great tribute to the recently departed Aldo, but we all have our memories of his many great wines.
(NR/flawed)
Note that Triple A
on the back of these bottles refers to a program started by Pepe's Italian distributor,
Velier.
The three A's here refer to Agricoltori (farmers), Artigiani (craftsmen), Artisti (artists).
You can find more details on the Pepe website
here.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Dessert
Almond cake.
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view.
Summary
I suspect these wines may not be for everyone, but if you love traditionally made big reds of character
like Paolo Bea Sagrantino, Vallana Spanna, or G. Rinaldi Barolo, you will probably love these.
I loved them and wish I had a lot more of them in my cellar.
Notes posted from CellarTracker.
People Pix
Click on a photo with a border for a larger view
Magda in her kitchen preparing our fabulous dinner.
Joe and Steve. Steve unfortunately the worse for wear due to a cold.
Tom, Josh, and Joe share a laugh.
Joe and Liz.
All original content © Ken Vastola
