Emidio Pepe

Nono Emidio

It took courage and determination back in 1964 to believe before anyone else in the potential of Montepulciano and Trebbiano, on the edge of Abruzzo, a hilly region in central Italy bordered by the Adriatic Sea and the Sibylline Mountains. The son of Giuseppe, grandson of Emidio, the young Emidio represents the third generation at the helm of this family estate, founded in 1899, whose wines had already shaped the Pepe reputation in the region.

From his first years at the head of the estate, Emidio decided to break the codes that dictated that Montepulciano should be drunk young and set about adapting his practices to achieve his vision. Reduced yields, soil work, manual de-stemming, long maturation in small concrete vats, drastically reduced doses of sulphur, and then patience, a lot of patience... each year, about half of the 80,000 bottles produced are put on the market, the other half are carefully preserved in the cellars of the family's cantina, in Torano Nuovo, where today nearly 350,000 bottles are stored!

Most of the vines are planted under pergolas, a very popular method in Abruzzo, which provide the grapes with natural protection from the sun thanks to the shade produced by the leaves. This shade is very useful during the hot summer months and allows the grapes to preserve their silky tannins and fresh aromas. Emidio has always refused the use of synthetic products in his vineyards and favoured practices similar to organic or biodynamic agriculture before its time, defending rich and living soil.

Each year, mature vintages are brought out of the cellar, the bottles are delicately decanted by hand into new bottles, cleaned, labelled with the original labels, and then offered to the family's customers around the world.

The fourth generation, led by Emidio's two daughters, Sofia and Daniela, and Chiara, Emidio's granddaughter, have been carrying on Nono Emidio's work for some years now, with the utmost respect for the family traditions.