Emidio Pepe -The Legendary Cult Wines of Italy

EMIDIO PEPE: NOT ONLY AMONG THE MOST ICONIC IN ITALY THEY ARE AMONG THE FINEST IN THE WORLD!

"For years, these wines were virtually nonexistent in the US and, even now, the Pepe Cerasuolo (rosato) is pretty much impossible to find. It’s SO good but production is so limited, however, we figured out a way to bring in the 2019 Emidio Pepe Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo exclusively for The Wine House!

Long before organic, biodynamic and the term ‘natural wine’ was a thing, Pepe was all of that and then some. The winery was founded in 1964 and it is perhaps the oldest and most genuine ‘natural wine’ in Italy, and to this day they are still farmed biodynamically. The winemaking is a complete throwback and brilliant; there really is nothing else like it.

The Wine House is extremely fortunate to receive the quantities we do and, even then, we do not receive much. If you are looking for that perfect wine for your wine geekiest friends or family, or just want to experience something completely different (and transcendent) for yourself, the wines of Emidio Pepe are that treat." – Lance Montalto, The Wine House

NEW! The Wine House Kitchen introduces our freshly prepared cocktails to go. Our Negroni, Old Fashioned and Cadillac Margarita are made with top-of-the-line ingredients. All you need to do to enjoy these premium cocktails is shake well and pour over ice! Each 375ml bottle is only $24 and makes three cocktails. Please keep refrigerated as they are made with fresh ingredients. NOTE: Cocktails to go are only available for curbside pickup.

Check out our CLOSEOUT wines on our website! Quantities are limited to current stock and new closeout wines are added regularly!

NOTE: The Wine House is not open for walk-in customers. We offer curbside pickup between 11AM and 6PM. Please see below for UPDATED curbside pickup instructions and contact us before coming to the store. Please let us know if you have multiple orders to consolidate.

CHAT! If you see a chat bubble in the lower right corner on our website, a Wine House employee is ready to answer your questions. Please note that chat is only available between 11AM and 6PM, and the bubble only displays when an employee is available. Chat agents can answer many questions, but cannot process orders.

LOCAL DELIVERY! For orders over $250, we now offer Special Local Delivery
Monday - Friday to addresses up to 10 miles from the store for $8/case. Additional delivery options are also available on our website.

"This is truly the Pink Unicorn – get it, because Cerasuolos are Abbruzzo rosés and Pepe’s rosés have never been officially imported into the U.S. before and are considered by some to be Pepe's best wine. I never fully got an answer as to why the wines are only sold in Europe, but I believe it has to do with such a limited bottle production. In the end, it does not matter because we had the wine imported exclusively for The Wine House. It is a blockbuster Rosato. This is as genuine as traditional Cerasuolos get. It is not a subtle rosé; it is among the darkest hued pink wines in the world, with an aromatic intensity that is unrivaled, with bright red cherries and earth that play off each other. This is a juicy wine on the palate with cherries, strawberries and a subtle herbal aspect as well as a back end of acidity that ties this wine together wonderfully. I have enjoyed this wine for years on trips to Italy and, even now, it never ceases to amaze every aspect of my wine loving self. I am not saying it is the best wine Emidio Pepe makes, but it is hard to argue that it is not." – Lance Montalto, The Wine House

CERASUOLO
Cerasuolo is a typical wine from our region, obtained from Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes vinified as our white wine: the grapes are foot crushed and the must ferments without the skins. The result is an intense pink wine, a rosé with a strong personality with fresh and enveloping flavors, it is a bright and energetic wine.

94 Points: "This is one of the cornerstone producers of the Abruzzo, a winery that follows strict tradition but that also appeals to every new generation of wine drinker that encounters a bottle. The wines of Emidio Pepe are in a word, timeless. The 2017 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo flaunts its pedigree with elegant aromas of black fruit, smoke, tar and powdery licorice. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo fares well in the hot vintages such as 2017 thanks to the cool mountain climates of the region, and not only do you get deep textural richness here, the acidity is beautifully preserved and fresh as well. The tannins are firm and polished, all followed by delicate little accents of dried herb and crushed stone. Drink dates 2020 to 2030." – Monica Larner, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (April 2020)

MONTEPULCIANO D’ABRUZZO
Very deep red-black when young, with aromas and flavors of raw meat, black fruit (including blackcurrant), expensive leather, hints of bacon, ink, and dry-cured olive; a big, beefy wine but not bitter or alcoholic, surprisingly fresh in most vintages for such a substantial wine. Older bottles shade to Hermitage-like brickish red with aromas and flavors of berries, roast meat, forest-floor, dried orange-peel, and many others, with superb elegant texture. My definition of fine wine is that it’s indescribable, and words fail me here. One of Italy’s best aged reds.

FROM THE WINERY

ARTISANAL METHOD
A balance in the vineyard, achieved after years of work, thanks to the expert hands of the grower Emidio who, with his 55 years of harvest experience, was able to perfectly determine the nourishment of the plants, the soil tilling, the pruning and the vegetation of the vines, limiting any kind of intervention in the vineyard and in the cellar. No chemical products are used, even in the most difficult years and conditions. No selected yeasts to make the alcoholic fermentation start and no enzymes are added to encourage the genesis of perfumes. Only natural products such as copper crystals, mine sulphur and biodynamic preparations are actually used, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. All of this just to return the terroir, the climate and the culture through the distinctive personality of the Montepulciano and the Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. In the most Northern part of Abruzzo, a strip of land located in between the Adriatic sea on one side and the Gran Sasso Mountain on the other, which provides the perfect microclimate to allow the vines to row and produce grapes of outstanding quality.
A combination of soil and climate factors - the clay rich soils that drain the water, the location of the vineyards exposed to a large solar arc, the different temperature range between day and night that helps the filling sugars in the grapes and the constant wind prevents bacteria and diseases to develop – all this define Torano Nuovo a town from incredible vine vocation.

Handmade
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.

The Crushing
The picking is exclusively by hand selecting only the perfect grapes. The white grapes are crushed by feet in a big wooden tub, 350kg at a time get crushed for 40-45 minutes, allowing a constant stimulation of skin with the juice, letting the skin release matter, flavours and aromas. This method allow us to press in the grapes in a delicate and soft way, not letting the stems break and letting us have a rich must ready to ferment. Only the juice go to ferment in small concrete tanks, where spontaneous fermentation will start and go on for 30-35 days. From concrete the wine will go straight into bottle to start his long improvement in bottle.

The Destemming
Montepulciano d'Abruzzo grapes are hand destemmed on a net on top of a wooden vat, two people will push the grapes back and forth until the berries will fall down and the stems will remain on the net unbroken, this way only the elegant and juicy tannins of the skin will go into the must but not the bitter ones from the stems. The berries remain almost intact, important to keep the yeasts which are on the skins and really precious for our spontaneous fermentations.

The Decantation
Since the beginning we leave the wine to age in bottle without any filtration, we like tokeep the wine alive and energising and let it face the long journey with as much energies at possible, those that would have been taken away by any kind of filtration. This way, with time, the wine will sediment at the bottom of the bottle what it doesn't need anymore. That sediment will stay into the bottle until we decide to release the vintage. Before we release then any bottle that has more than 10 years of age, each bottle will be re-opened and hand decanted, one by one, to remove the sediments and to check the quality of each bottle. While loosing some liquid in this process, the new bottle is quickly topped up with a second bottle of the same vintage and corked. On the cork we print the year of the decantation, so the client knows when this process of quality control has happened.

UPDATED CURBSIDE PICKUP INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Place your online order.
- You will receive 2 emails. The first will acknowledge receipt of your order and the second will let you know that your order is ready for pickup.

2) Please reply to the second email to tell us you want curbside pickup. IMPORTANT: If you have multiple orders to consolidate, please let us know as we will need extra time to get those to the front of the store!
- We will prepare your order(s), move them to the front of the store and send you a confirmation email that curbside pickup is ready.

3) Pull up in front of the store. There is no need to call when you arrive at the store – just roll down your passenger window and let us know the name on the order(s).
- We will put your order(s) in your vehicle. There is no need to step out of your vehicle.

Due to the large number of phone calls we have been receiving and the time it takes to consolidate orders, please reply to the email letting you know that your wine is ready for pickup and give us time stage and consolidate your order(s). There is no need to phone the store to arrange curbside pickup.