Emidio Pepe

Founded in 1964 in Torano Nuovo, 16 km from the Adriatic coast, by Emidio Pepe - the third generation of a family growing grapes since 1889. The estate covers around 14 hectares, with vines trained on the traditional pergola system so leaves absorb the summer sun while grapes hang in shade below. The focus is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, with some Pecorino.

The winemaking is radically traditional. White grapes are foot-trodden in wooden tubs to avoid contact between iron presses and fruit acids. Reds are hand-destemmed and hand-crushed. Fermentation is spontaneous, lasting 30-35 days. There are no wood barrels - reds age entirely in concrete, whites in temperature-controlled stainless steel (originally glass-lined cement). No fining, no filtration. For bottles aged twenty years or more, a painstaking tradition: each bottle is hand-decanted from old bottle to new bottle before release, separating the wine from decades of sediment. This task was historically overseen by Emidio's wife Rosa. The cellar holds over 350,000 bottles across up to twenty different vintages.

Chemicals have never been used; the estate gained biodynamic certification in 2006. The winery is now run by daughters Daniela and Sofia Pepe (since 1997), with granddaughter Chiara de Iulis Pepe leading winemaking decisions. The standard Montepulciano ages roughly two years in concrete plus several more in bottle before release; the library releases that undergo Rosa's hand-decanting can be twenty years old or older.