Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, Selezione Vecchie Vigne, decanted, Emidio Pepe 2003, 75 cl.

Vinification / aging

Since the first harvest we have never changed the winemaking method, still today no machines are used, we thought this is a way to repeat tradition but mainly to guarantee constant quality and coherence through the vintages. Today, three generation after Emidio's first harvest, we still do everything exactly as he started. Vinifikation takes place in concrete tanks.

History

Emidio Pepe founded his winery in 1964, after working alongside his father and his grandfather which already back in 1889 where making wine at Casa Pepe. Before anyone else, he strongly believed in the great ageing potential of Trebbiano and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and he dedicated all his energies to those two indigenous grape varietals, proving their incredible potential and showing it to the entire world. Born in 1932, a man of few words, determined and attentive observer. Solid values and precise ideas in his mind. Tireless worker, he continues today to take care of all his vineyards personally, from the pruning to the harvest. Observes carefully the signals that Nature gives him and with the special sensibility developed during the over fifty years of harvests, he interprets them and he accompanies his vines and grapes becoming into wine with out ever interfering. Attentive custodian of his terroir, he protected his soils and his wines from chemicals and he based all his empirical work on the respect of traditions and on the authentic and genuine expression of his wines. Torano Nuovo is in the center of an uncontaminated Nature still provided of its times, able to generate unforgettable fruits through its soils and still capable of holding the idea of labor as a gift and able to transform the passion for the land in immutable love.

The climate balances the soft and sapid influence of the sea together with the cold streams from the Gran Sasso Mountain, giving birth to a perfect condition that allows a slow and progressive ripening of the flavours and creating an ideal balance between sugars and acidity. The clay and limestone soil hosts the roots, which go down for more than several meters, the soil also provides and feeds them with a specific mineralogy that allows the wine to have complexity and longevity. 36 Acres of Montepulciano and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, with a little Pecorino. The growing system is mainly pergola and few rows in order to have balanced vintages each year. The leaves in the pergola protect the grapes when there is too much sun while the rows let the soil breathe when it rains a lot. The workings are almost non-existent because we want to preserve the life and the soil biodiversity. Earthworms, butterflies, spiders and fireflies which populate our soil testify the absence of fertilizers. The pergola vines are the oldest, more than 40 years old and an average yield is 90/100 quintals per hectare. Their roots can go 6 to 7 meters deep and guarantee the nourishment even in the most difficult periods. We treat the plants only with natural products: mine sulphur and copper water as whatever you give to them comes back to you: first in the grapes and then in the glass.

Terroir

Clay and limestone soil.