Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Emidio Pepe 2010

Bright ruby. Precise, spicy aromas of ripe red berries, dark plum and violet accented by cumin and caraway seed. At once densely packed and broad but juicy and refined too, boasting terrific acid-fruit-tannin balance and penetrating red cherry, underbrush and sweet spice flavors. This lovely wine is suave and fine-grained and finishes very long. It would be prudent to decant this at least two-three hours ahead; one bottle I had was initially marred by almost unacceptable levels of funkiness, another was instead brilliantly pure and clean, so allowing this wine to breathe a little prior to serving is not a bad idea. Drink between 2022-2040

The 2010 Montepulciano from Emidio Pepe has absolutely brilliant potential, and it is very easy to see why both Emidio and his daughter Sofia are so excited about the quality of this vintage. The bouquet is deep, pure and youthfully promising, offering up scents of black cherries, tar, balsam boughs, a fine base of dark soil, incipient notes of botanicals and a bit of chicory in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a fine core, firm, ripe tannins, tangy acids and a very long, focused and beautifully balanced finish that closes with excellent grip and bounce. This is still very early days for this wine, but it will prove to be an utter classic. Drink between 2025-2075