Everybody who is passionate about wine cannot disregard the Pepe winery. In Torano Nuovo, Abruzzo, mineral soils, with the perfect combination of light, wind and water, give birth to the excellence: the most iconic Italian grapes, Montepulciano for the red and Trebbiano for the whites, who generate some exceptional wines, within an implicit simplicity which is what make them special.
The Pepe family, or better, the Pepper family ;-), has been making wine in Abruzzo since the end of the last century. Since 1964 it is the Emidio Pepe (that all us passionate of wines know & MUST know) who took over the winery becoming an icon, a symbol, a genuine “guru” in the wine world.
From an organic method, the Pepe winery moved to the biodymanic principles, constantly aware simultaneously of the importance of nature. Despite a fully natural process, most of Pepe’s wines can age for many many years. Vintage tastings is what make happy wine enthusiasts. You all know that!
White grapes are still pressed by hand while the red ones are de-stemmed by hand. No chemical products are used. No correction. Fermentation with indigenous and natural yeasts.
You wouldn’t be surprised to know that behind a great man, there is always a great woman. Rosa Pepe. Emidio Pepe has also three daughters and one of them, Sofia, is an enologist with her own winery. Women power in this circumstance: the future of the winery will be in their hands. They are very energetic and full of love for life, therefore I am confident that they will elegantly preserve the winery identity also in the future.
Emidio is a great person; he passed the 80s and he still looks in his 40s spirit. That’s the lesson you have to learn: drink good wine, in a moderate manner, can only bring you benefits and make you age in the most respectful way.
In fact, if you read the back label of his bottles you will find two key messages. The first one is:
“with the Pepe wine you have “LIFE” inside”. The second one is: “the Pepe wine is produced in an artisanal way, in the respect of the nature, to preserve your and our health”.
Pepe’s battle has always been to look for the authenticity, to preserve the genuineness of the grape, in the respect of the terroir and of nature cycles.
It’s wines are extremely rustic and the same time elegant. They make you feel really good and healthy.
I have tried three Vintage of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo: 2007, 2008 and 2009. I shoot them!
The 2007 has a plain yellow colour, brilliant, intense, vivid, full of light. You can feel yellow ripe fruits and flowers, hazelnut, something more wild at the finish. Very light spicy, white pepper. It’s amazingly balanced.
The 2008 has a yellow colour, brilliant but not explosive. Ripe yellow fruits and flowers, hay, rustic flavor. Savory and mineral. Rustic.
The 2009 has a golden colour with some darker shades. Ripe apricot more than peach. Prunes, ripe yellow prunes. Balsamic background. Less bilance than 2007 and 2008. It will improve with aging, like women ;)
