Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Branella Vecchie Vigne 2022

Price: $179.00
Tasting notes

The 2022 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vecchie Vigne Branella continues to evolve in bottle, with an array of lavender, rose and crushed violet candies complementing wild blueberry fruit as a spicy gingery tinge slowly emerges. It is racy and energetic in feel, with zesty acidity contrasting a core of tart wild berries.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
BlueberryVioletBlack CherryGinger
Dry/Sweet:Dry
Wine Type:Red Wine
Wine Style:Full Body
Grapes:Montepulciano
Farming:Organic and Biodynamic
Vintage:2022
Country:Italy
Region:Abruzzo
Appellation:Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC
Bottle Size:750ml
Sugar Level:Zero Added Sugar
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Important information

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Important Compliance Requirements

FedEx and other carriers we might occasionally use can only deliver wine to customers who are 21 years or older. Someone must be at the address to receive the package; carriers don't just drop a package and leave. They must ensure the person receiving the wine is 21 or older. Shipping to PO Boxes is not allowed.

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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.

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Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Branella Vecchie Vigne 2022
$179.00

Producer profile

Emidio Pepe

The Pepe family has produced wine in Torano Nuovo, in Abruzzo's northern province of Teramo, since 1899. The modern era began in 1964 when Emidio Pepe took over operations, dedicating himself to proving the aging potential of Trebbiano and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Fourth-generation sisters Daniela and Sofia Pepe have managed production since 1997, with fifth-generation Chiara de Iulis Pepe now leading winemaking decisions. Today, Emidio Pepe's ageing cellar has more than 350,000 bottles.

The estate now spans 17 hectares, up from the single hectare Emidio started with. Vineyards sit between the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains on clay soils over solid limestone. The family gained biodynamic certification in 2006, though organic practices had been followed for decades prior. The Casa Pepe vineyard, which covers just 0.8 hectares and is located outside the modern-day winery, was planted using the traditional pergola training system. It is not the sole source of the flagship wine of Emidio Pepe, the Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vecchie Vigne. The second source, the Branella vineyard of 2 hectares, also planted with the Pergola training system, is located a short distance from the winery and was purchased by Emidio Pepe in 1966.

Fermented in 22-30 HL cement tanks with natural yeast and aged for two years in cement before bottling. The wines are pressed using a basket press and placed into glass-lined cement tanks, many of which are the same 25-30-hectoliter tanks Emidio Pepe used when he started, back in 1964. There it remains for 18 to 24 months in a highly reductive state, topped off after malolactic fermentation is completed. This is also the only time that sulfur might be added before the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The two old vine plots, Branella and Casa Pepe, are not only vinified separately but also bottled separately.

Wine region

Abruzzo, Italy

Situated in central Italy along the Adriatic coast, Abruzzo stretches from sea level to the peaks of the Apennine Mountains, with the Gran Sasso massif, the highest point in the range, dominating the western horizon. This geographic diversity creates varied growing conditions across the region's four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. The Pepe vineyards are located in the northern province of Teramo, with soils rich in clay and limestone. The top 40 centimeters of the soil is clay but underneath it is solid limestone.

Two indigenous varieties define the region. Montepulciano, not to be confused with the Tuscan town, dominates red wine production on approximately 17,000 hectares. The grape yields deeply colored wines with soft tannins and dark fruit character, ranging from everyday drinking wines to structured, age-worthy bottles. Trebbiano Abruzzese accounts for most white wine production, though it differs genetically from the more common Trebbiano Toscano. When carefully cultivated and traditionally vinified, Trebbiano Abruzzese produces whites of notable complexity and aging potential. Abruzzo holds two DOCG designations, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane and Terre Tollesi, alongside seven DOC appellations.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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