If this had happened to me, I would contact the seller and say basically, you sold me something that is not what I was expecting to receive. I am not familiar with the wording of the particular offer you received, though.
I actually didn’t say anything about specific bottling time in my post in this thread. You’ve added that yourself. What I said is that malo happens in vat for the young vine Trebbiano and often in bottle for the old vine, which is true. You may be assuming that it takes awhile for a malo in tank in an above ground cellar in a region like Abruzzo to occur, but I do not think it takes all that long to complete. When you have bigger volumes malo happens quicker. This is not a Burgundy cellar in terms of temp.
Thanks Levi. You’re right: I assumed malo in the vat would take some time and therefore those would be bottled after the old vine wine.
I let Greg at Envoyer know about this thread, as I assume he’d appreciate learning more about these wines. He didn’t represent the wine as old vine or young vine - just as Trebbiano.
Not necessarily true. So much of what’s available in the US is grey market so prior to EP labeling with a new label designation, it would be tough to know what you’re getting. Wholesale in the US on the Montepulciano should be about $125/btl. If you’re finding it at retai for less, it’s likely grey market and likely young vine.
Of course I am aware of grey market bottles in the US, as has already been discussed in this thread. I was referring to bottles sold in the US by the winery through their designated importers.
I let Greg at Envoyer know about this thread. He thanked me and said he’d talk to his supplier and clarify which bottling they got (but it was clear from this thread that it was the earlier drinking Italian market bottling).
I just got a new offer from Envoyer for the 2017 Trebbiano and he makes it clear which wine it is:
“This is going to be the European bottling which is an earlier release than the US version. This has earlier approachability and doesn’t see the old vines or extended aging but is still classic Emidio Pepe.”
Thanks, Levi for your valuable input on this. (Love the podcast, BTW. I’m a regular listener.)
I tell ya what, if what I had was the young vines I can confidently say it is excellent, and very much worth buying. Of note: I had the '16, not the '17.
There’s zero doubt that the 2015 and 2016 Trebbiano that Envoyer sold was the non-export, young vines wine, based on:
when they were selling the bottles (when the Envoyer offer came in, the old vine wine hadn’t been released yet),
the serial numbers on the bottles (Levi pointed out that the young vine wines were bottled first and therefore had lower serial numbers… my Envoyer bottles had numbers below 100),
the price point (at $50 USD, that’s a fraction of the price for the old vines wine… Envoyer’s pricing is great, but not that great).
I expect to thoroughly enjoy every bottle, young vines or not.
haha, no I’ll keep them. I’m sure they will be fine, but I already packed them (the reds) in a box labeled 2035. I tend to like my red wines old, so for me, I’ll try to make sure I buy the US version from now on… and dig the ones I bought out.
Honestly, I feel the same way. I bought these to age. I don’t need any wine for immediate consumption. I’m sure I’ll enjoy them, but I wouldn’t have bought them had I known.
Neither the red or white I recently noted on struck me as early drinkers; to the contrary, the struck me as wines that would greatly improve with age. And I’m now pretty sure they were both the young vines bottlings. I wouldn’t panic.
