Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Vigne Vecchie Emidio Pepe 1983

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 1983 Emidio Pepe, natural wine, rare old vintage, ageing very well, full bodied, garnet hue, a rare example of fine old Italian red from an Iconic winery.  These old bottles are a rare treat if you get to taste one.  Many wines will age but few will age well and will genuinely improve.  Old wine is also an acquired taste and not for everyone.  In fact, often the delight in experiencing the complexity and profound nature of these wines.  The Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 1983 is ageing exceptionally well and will not disappoint.  An expensive wine for those who have the budget, this is finer wine than many a claret at three times the price.  Note that these old wines come from the old vineyard sites at the estate and carry the stamp of ‘Vigne Vecchie’.

The great wines of Emidio Pepe have become iconic on the international market; older vintages sell for high prices and are highly sort after.

You might say 'rightly so' when you consider the labour of love that has gone into every bottle. The organic grapes are handpicked, sorted and every one pressed by foot, a practice that is very rare nowadays but still produces the softest pressing. The must is then fermented with natural yeast in large cement tanks and aged in cement for 2 years, settling naturally without the addition of sulphur. Emidio Pepe wines are then bottled and sent for ageing in the cellar. They store an incredible 40 vintages in their stunning cellar just outside Torano Nuovo in northern Abruzzo not far from the Marche border. When a bottle is sold, it is lovingly decanted into a fresh bottle by hand (hence there is no need for fining nor filtration), Emidio Pepe wines are all corked by hand and then labelled by hand! Only very rarely is any sulphur used in the production of Pepe wines and yet such is the perfection of natural balance that they age for decades.