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350,000 bottles lie in the treasure chamber at Torano Nuovo, some of them for thirty years before they leave the house. The Emidio Pepe estate practises a style of winemaking that has vanished elsewhere: every berry is picked off by hand, and fermentation begins inside the fruit through semi-carbonic maceration. Since 1964 the family has made Montepulciano and Trebbiano from 17 hectares according to biodynamic principles. Today three generations work hand in hand.
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More about Emidio Pepe
Berry by berry: Italy’s most painstaking harvest
At Emidio Pepe, hand destemming reaches a new dimension: while other growers pick their grapes by hand, the Pepe family separates every single berry from the stalk, a practice that is almost unique worldwide. This extreme selection allows a semi-carbonic fermentation that begins within the intact fruit. Wild yeasts from the estate’s own vineyards start the process, without any oenological correction.
Emidio Pepe, born in 1932, refined this method from 1964 onwards to a perfection that his daughters Sofia and Daniela carry on today. Treated this way, the Montepulciano grape develops a complexity that only reaches its full expression after 20 years of cellar ageing.
Pergola and polyculture in the Colline Teramane
Sixteen kilometres from the Adriatic, on clay-limestone soils between 280 and 380 metres, the vines grow on traditional pergola training. Cooling winds from the Gran Sasso massif create ideal conditions for slow ripening. Cereals and vegetables thrive between the rows, a polyculture that Emidio’s grandfather already practised.
Massal selection is carried out from 100-year-old clones that guarantee genetic diversity. The “Branella” vineyard, cultivated as pergola since 1971, supplies the grapes for the legendary Selezione wines. Together with Valentini, Emidio Pepe is one of the defining names of Abruzzo, the estates that won international recognition for this long-underrated region.
The treasure chamber: decades of patience
350,000 bottles rest in the cellars of Torano Nuovo, a stock without equal. Only when Emidio Pepe judges a vintage ready to drink does it leave the estate. Some wines wait more than three decades for their release. This extreme stockholding policy makes it possible to offer fully developed Montepulciano, such as the Montepulciano 2003 or the already legendary Montepulciano 2002.
Three generations, one vision
Today granddaughters Chiara (export) and Elisa (hospitality) are carrying the legacy into the fourth generation. Daughter Sofia is responsible for vineyard and cellar, while Daniela runs the administration. This continuity ensures that the uncompromising philosophy of unfiltered, natural winemaking endures.
Of particular interest to collectors are the “Decanted” bottlings such as the Montepulciano 2000 decanted, in which the natural deposit has been removed by transferring the wine. They show Montepulciano d’Abruzzo in its purest, clearest form, proof of the extraordinary ageing potential of this underrated Italian grape.