Had my first Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Emidio Pepe this week, a 2017. Really liked it. Quite rich, but with soul and flavor to it. Nice acidity. I am sure it will age nicely, but it was pretty tasty right now.
It has to be the early drinking version because it was in Europe and that version is not sent to the US as far as I know, and the other isn’t released until five years after harvest. BTW, since last year they started putting “Vecchie Vite” on the bottles of the older wines. So Howard lucked out and got the wine before the VA and everything else took over! I’ve had plenty of the older ones but would love to try the younger version.
Emidio’s family is from the same part of Naples that my grandparents emigrated from in 1913 to Paterson NJ. They moved to Abruzzi in the 1890s. He has four daughters, one of whom came to visit us when she was in LA on a wine selling visit.
It won’t be your last, Howard. From Vegas this past May:
“The after-dinner fascination came with Bernie and I stopping in at Ferraro’s. On their list was the 2012 Emidio Pepe Colli Aprutini Pecorino. I’d never had his Pecorino before and it was flat-out amazing juice. Creamy with some lanolin feel and also hints of buttered greens, pear paste, unripe banana and some marzipan, it also reflected some freshness and minerality at the same time when it was on my tongue. Descriptors are hard, but here’s one. It reminded me truly of a non-flawed right-place bottle of Chateau Simone. Pepe is a wine-whisperer of the first order.”
and from March 2016 in Ottawa:
"1985 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
My friend Boris generously carted this along to our dinner with my friends Ingrid, Chris and Brigette. I’ve had stuff from this iconic producer, but never anything close to this old. You’re greeted with a bouquet of dried berry and cherry fruit and dips of potpourri and floral. Dans la bouche, this tastes “mature”—that indefinable thing of developed fruit, evenness of texture and slight oldish funk, but gets you at the back with a fascinating chocolate-molasses baked brownie thing. With the chicken and fixings, the fruit gets its chance to come out and play, with a very slight sweet cherry tomato secondary. In no danger of declining, this was a true treat to taste."
I agree that this will not be my last Pepe. I had purchased a few bottles previously from Envoyer, so I have some in my cellar, but I have not drunk them yet - waiting for them to age a bit