Emidio Pepe - Pecorino Colli Aprutini 2022

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. Before anyone else, he strongly believed in the great ageing potential of Trebbiano and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and he dedicated all his energies to those two indigenous grape varietals, proving their incredible potential and showing it to the entire world.

The Pepe vineyards are located in the northern province of Teramo, with soils rich in clay and limestone. In fact the top 40 centimeters of the soils is clay but underneath it is solid limestone. The Trebbiano is foot trodden in wooden tubs for two reasons: in order to avoid contact between the iron presses and the acids of the fruit and also for the textural complexity resulting in the subtle maceration that happens when the trodden skins release their characteristics in to the juice. The resulting white wines are slightly golden hued, well balanced and complex, with hints of nuts, hay, and yellow fruits. The Montepulciano bears little relation to most other wines of this appellation; they are big, bold, and filled with the intense flavors of dried black cherries, licorice and wild herbs.

The winemaking regime at Pepe follows an uber-natural and artisinal path. Grapes are grown biodynamically, hand-harvested, hand-destemmed, fermented with spontaneous yeast and aged 18-24 months in glass-lined cement tanks. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered and are aged in their cellar in bottles for continued development. Before release, the Montepulciano bottles that are 20 or more years old are decanted by hand into new bottles and labeled. An extensive stock of older vintages is kept at the cellar. The year of decantation is now listed on a strip around the neck of the bottle. Trebbiano and Pecorino are not, and have never been decanted.

The last arrival in the Pepe family. Pecorino is an indigenous grape variety from south of Marche and north of Abruzzo. Used to be grown in high altitudes, Pecorino is voluptuous and generous.

"With its decidedly green and spicy bouquet, the 2022 Pecorino is impossible to ignore.  Lime zest and tropical melon give way to crushed Granny Smith apples and chamomile aromas.  This is beautifully balanced, fruit-centric and intense.  Silken waves of citrus-infused orchard fruits cascade beneath an air of sweet inner florals.  The 2022 leaves the palate completely refreshed, tapering off long and youthfully tense, with a hint of salinity that adds lovely punctuation. Fantastic." - 93 points, VInous

Producer: Emidio Pepe

Country: Italy

Region: Abruzzo

Varietal: Pecorino

Appellation: Colli Aprutini IGT

Vintage: 2022

Size: 750ml