Emidio Pepe, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

Excellent wine. Very good balance, acidity and freshness , esp for a 15 year old wine. Delicious, refreshing and no flaws. But not really complex. My only question is whether it tasted like a $96 bottle.

2008 vintage

Dinner at Dear Margaret (Chicago, IL) : A little stinky and bretty, but otherwise very much a clean version of this wine. I like the notes of red berries and hints of black stone fruit here. Slightly volatile (what Italian wine isn't?) but not overwhelmingly so. Surprisingly far more drinkable than most of the other bottles of Pepe I've had (I have to admit I don't understand the wines though).

2008 vintage

Blind, no. 20183. Green, peppery and pyrzaine, some inky dark fruit underneath, old right bank? Good concentration for wine of this age but those flavors never really blew off. 91

1977 vintage

The '77 Pepe is intensely perfumed and slightly reductive on the nose, with smoked meats, dark cherries, tar, earth, and fennel. On the palate, I found a medium-to-light bodied texture with a darker flavor profile of chocolate, smoke, earth, and cherry fruit coupled with high acidity. It is a smooth, cool-toned, lighter wine but with an aggressive, somewhat rustic but intriguing flavor profile. Good, but in a bottle that seemed to be in perfect shape, seems to be towards the …

1977 vintage

Love the nose here: leather and earth. Great acid. Wild but a bit tired. Not up to the ‘85 or ‘82. (90)

1977 vintage

Absolutely love Emidio Pepe’s Montepulciano d’abruzzo. Always a treat. He will routinely release older vintage from his cellar with fresh corks (see year discrepancy!) . His wines are made in the natural vein. Always a bit of funk on the nose when you first open up. It is amazing what he can do with this grape. The wines are so rich a complex. This one has a very rich nose of licorice , dark chocolate, mushroom, black truffle , palate …

1977 vintage

I always find these wines very interesting. This took at least two hours of decanting to open up. Firm tannins, deep ruby color, slight barnyard with berries. Went very well with grilled lamb for Easter Dinner.

2008 vintage

Spectacular - dense, always evolving in the glass, intense dark berry fruit with terrific structure, beautiful on the nose. Still very youthful. Years and years left to enjoy this.

2008 vintage

Emidio Pepe wines with Chiara De Iulis Pepe : Chiara described as a warmer vintage. Aromatically brighter and more expressive than the 2010, pure red fruit characters; on the palate there was fuller fruit presence, yet still gracefully medium bodied, with a mineral savoury twist on the midpalate. Quite approachable now.

2008 vintage

Nez tertiaire sur le vinaigre balsamique, les feuilles morte, le cuir et un fond de vieux fruit La bouche est mieux, un peu balsamique et légèrement acide mais aussi une belle cerise confite, viande fumée et un peu de terre. La matière est clairement en déclin et laisse entrevoir un vestige de structure tanique. Finale intéressante, douce et complexe dans tertiaire Un beau moment mais le vin est en fin de vie 87 pt

1977 vintage

Love this wine. Alive and kicking, with plenty of red fruit, nice savory aromatics, and a cool smoky funkiness that makes Pepe so fun. Need to get more old Pepe!

1977 vintage

Lots of potential here and the wine started to open up after a few hours. Won't touch others for 5+ years.

2008 vintage

Big and ripe for the producer, with red & black berry, game, and dried herbs on the nose. (Bottle number 27063)

2008 vintage

Alive and kicking. Bring the funk!

1977 vintage

Dark and rich, with layered and nuanced aromas of red & dark berry, game, and spice. A wine of graceful complexity despite its rustic pedigree, the 2008 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo will age effortlessly for at least another decade. (Bottle number 27088)

2008 vintage

On the downslope, but still lovely. Much more civilized than the last bottle.

1977 vintage

Quite light in colour, bricking all the way through. Pretty dark and dense on the palate though, with soil and bitter/dark chocolate tones dominating. Not as lifted and gracile as other vintages (e.g. '82, '85, '91), though there are some cranberry notes peeking though all that earth. Fine dusty tannins. Fascinating wine. Top and bottom notes not entirely integrated, but there’s a lot going on here. (Another bottle was madeirized).

1977 vintage

Beautiful wine. More dense and concentrated than my recent bottle of '82, but still light on it's feet and elegant. Very complex, fully resolved, and clearly at peak.

1977 vintage

Tight, almost green, and quite acidic - tough at the moment but the concentration of fruit on the nose promises much more. Might have been marginally corked too. Meant to be a more long-term vintage than the 09.

2008 vintage

No score because this wine is just so far out there. Garnet core fading to a brick-orange rim. Good legs (13.5% alc). Nose is deep and very strong for a 35+ year old wine, with tobacco and cocoa nibs, fireplace ash, charcoal, and dried cherry and cranberry - a good cigar dipped in cocoa powder. On the palate, it's soft at first, but in the middle it spreads across the mouth with all kinds of dried berries, dried herbs, smoked …

1977 vintage

Lovely nose of blackberries, tar, smoke with a hint of leather; on the palate juicy, smooth tannins with ample black cherry fruit and perfectly integrated acidity. Beautiful stuff; it has fattened up considerably since last year.

2008 vintage

Earthy first and foremost and with great complexity, balance, etc. A very good experience.

1977 vintage

Surprisingly open for business. Ripe nose, huge acidity and fat tannins with an excellent core of fruit (rhubarb, cherries). Can be drunk now but will benefit from cellaring and will improve for a decade IMO.

2008 vintage

I heard about Emidio PEPE a while ago but this is my first bottle. The special wine indeed !!! " Full of detail " I love its smell, Rayas and Cheval Blanc combination, hints of barnyard, fruits, cement vats, no sign of oaky thing, so pure and natural. Good balance, good structure, tannic but very fine, smooth, too young but seductive, lovely full-bodied and delicious too. It can be aged very long in the cellar for sure. Aftertaste is polite, …

2008 vintage

Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vertical (Joe & Magda's, NYC) : 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.

1977 vintage

Saturday Tasting Group (Knightsbridge Wine Shop (Northbrook, IL)) : Almost done. Super funky and cheesy. Really old but unique and fun to try. Mint and a little dirty leather with old iron fence. So much Old musty moth balls and franky, shit - I mean manure. A little old car scent - Italian presence overall. Extra dirty feet. Less tasty and more unique.

1977 vintage

Metallic, penny roll notes. Earthy, with a red fruit undercurrent and lots of decay notes. Lighter bodied, and faded structure. Nice, but time to drink.

1977 vintage

what a birthday treat. Always amazing bottle (though not as good as the '85). opaque brownish color. Barnyard floor/peat moss notes dominate the nose and the palate with hints of balsamic, and leather/gamey meats and earthy undertones just demands attention. Lovely.

1977 vintage

Meat and earth with some leather, a little VA (not much on this bottle), and some musky funk. This is a wine that says, fuck you, pay attention to me. The aromatics are not obvious, but they are beautiful. Then there is a disconnect between those aromatics and the palate impression.

1977 vintage

Impromptu tasting @ my place (Netherlands) : Very complex wine with impressions of black cherries, autumn forest floor, balsam, ink, gingerbread, and some sweaty gamey kind of odour demanding full attention. Very impressive earthy glass of wine which fills every nook of your mouth! Powerful, and slightly alcoholic. Caveat emptor: only suited for lovers of ultratraditional stuff!

1977 vintage

Drunk in a range of great Italian wines. This and the Bartolo Mascarello were the crowd favorites of the evening. For a wine this old, the vibrancy and the youth are amazing. You could think that this was a five year old wine. Some say that Pepe does not have the typicity of Montepulciano. I say that it shows what can be done with this grape and why don't others try to emulate. This wine is an event in itself …

1977 vintage

Much better than the last bottle. Funky red fruit and spice. Manure. Rustic. Medium bodied. Enjoyable.

1977 vintage

Pretty dried out - volatile with lots of funk and a red cherry undercurrent. Hard acidity. Somewhat dirty. OK, but not up to the last bottle.

1977 vintage

Maybe it is the story and the uniqueness of the wine, but this was amazing. Very lucky to get a few bottles recently which have obviously been well kept. Leather and soy on the nose - big bouquet which blasted out of the bottle on opening. Medium bodied, bright, bright wine with clear delineation and beautiful integration. The acidity is there but under control. More leather and earth, but with a a wonderful backbone of still vibrant fruit - cherry. …

1977 vintage

Fabulous bottle purchased from Chambers St. Wines in New York. Barnyard city on opening but the bottle funk blew off with decanting. Superb acids and loads of fruit left on the palate. Rustic in the best sense. Went very well with smoked goat cheese raviolis in a veal reduction. What a classic. A real treat and a wine of character.

1977 vintage

Pretty sure this bottle was not right. Hinting at nice earth and fruit, but off tasting. Others at the table could not take more than a sip. I gave it more of a try, but hope that this is not what this wine is supposed to taste like. I suppose this is the risk in buying a 32 year old bottle of wine. Purhcased from Chambers Street in New York.

1977 vintage

It was my last bottle. But I had to open it after the cooked '85 I opened. And it was another great pleasure to drink. not much to add to the previous notes. This is a unique wine in the way the flavour profile keeps on evolving. If you can get hold of this wine, do it!

1977 vintage

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Emidio Pepe, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

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