WTN: 2001 Emidio Pepe Trebbiano D'Abruzzo

So here's the anti-Planeta, anti-industrial, anti-global wine I was telling Oswaldo about.
They don't use added yeasts, they don't add sulfites, and they actually claim to crush the white grapes with their feet. Doesn't get more artisanal than that!
Here are the notes I jotted down:
Pepe 2001 Trebbiano D'Abruzzo
Delightful! Nice body but graceful, very balanced, tasty but subtle. No oxidation, no refermentation, no poop smells, lots of fruit - this is kickin some Chablis ass!! (this was a jab at my friend Don who loves Chablis, keeps opening them up to convert me, and they always seem to be either in a "dumb" phase, oxidized, or smelling like sulfur.)
The Pepe was full of fruit but had a beautiful tranquil quality to it. Nose of ripe, fresh fruits. The mouth-feel of this wine was delightful, caressing and full.
Definitely a thumbs up on this occasion.

There is a down-side to Emidio's wines. Because he doesn't use sulfites, ageing them is a crap-shoot. I went to visit him and he told me about how his 1975 Montepulciano had won great praise at a recent tasting in NYC. In his cellar he has vintages dating way back, all for sale - kind of a contradiction for someone who doesn't use sulfites - they get more expensive the older they are. So I bought the 1975 for a hefty 80 Euros. It was the centerpiece for an important tasting I held in Milan soon after - and it was pure vinegar! What a crock! Oh well, I guess its better to go safe and buy Planeta

...- this is kickin some Chablis ass!! (this was a jab at my friend Don who loves Chablis, keeps opening them up to convert me, and they always seem to be either in a "dumb" phase, oxidized, or smelling like sulfur.)

Well, a totally different beast. The trebbiano is a softer, 'flatter' wine, broader than a good Chablis, which ought to have more minerality to this. Which reminds me, I should open another of these soon.

Sounds like just the thing I'd love, but Crush is selling it for $69, a bit tropo.

Chambers is selling some older Emilio Pepe Montepulcianos, and the description of the 1978 (67 bottles for sale at a whopping $135) refers to the 1975:

Pepe, Emidio 1978 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Holy hell this is beautiful wine; exhibiting gorgeous notes of black truffle, sun-dried tomatoes, dried herbs, and soil, all strung together along a core of morello cherry. The palate is broad and alive with lingering tobacco notes in the finish. Exceptional. CB
At least as good as the sought-after 1975, maybe better. JW

Mark, do you have one? What year is it?

Trebbiano gets a lot of flak for being neutral. I think a lot of grapes get a specific reputation over the years because they've been used to make gallons of light quaffer wines (which in Italy is often the case) then a conscientious producer comes along and turns the reputation on its head. I had an aged Lugana, I think from Ca' dei Frati, which is 100% Trebbiano made in the Lago di Garda area and it was quite delicious. So here's two cases of Trebbiano that ages well!
The Pepe Trebbiano I had could kind of be described as neutral, but it was neutral in a good way, like a quiet friend who knows how to listen. It was an interesting wine without being overbearing. I get the same kind of Zen quality from the Nebbiolos of Ar.Pe.Pe. in Valtellina.

$69 for the Trebbiano? Good lord!
When I went to see him I bought his 2004 Montepulciano for 9 Euros!
He's really hip these days. Its a crock of shit. Its all hype. What a shame. Its good wine but its not that good. I had his 2001 Montepulciano recently and it was good but it was hardly magical. I think winegrowers should get paid for their hard work, but on the other end wine should be within reach of normal, middle-class people, otherwise, what's the point? (Am I sounding like Obama here? That crazy communist!)

Pepe, Emidio 1978 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Holy hell this is beautiful wine; exhibiting gorgeous notes of black truffle, sun-dried tomatoes, dried herbs, and soil, all strung together along a core of morello cherry. The palate is broad and alive with lingering tobacco notes in the finish. Exceptional. CB
At least as good as the sought-after 1975, maybe better. JW

They forgot to mention "vinegar" among the descriptors!!

The '95 Pepe Trebbiano that I opened last year was anything but neutral--one of my wines of the year and still youthful. Pepe and Valentini's bottlings are nothing like the run of the mill Trebbianos (and I do find the Zenato Lugana a pleasant summer quafer) and I've seen some debate whether their trebbiano is in fact a different variety. I find these worth the tariff. It helps a little to buy the current release and hold them for a time.


I haven't tried any of the '01 yet; the Montepulciano has years to go.

Mark, do you have one? What year is it?

Trebbiano gets a lot of flak for being neutral. I think a lot of grapes get a specific reputation over the years because they've been used to make gallons of light quaffer wines (which in Italy is often the case) then a conscientious producer comes along and turns the reputation on its head. I had an aged Lugana, I think from Ca' dei Frati, which is 100% Trebbiano made in the Lago di Garda area and it was quite delicious. So here's two cases of Trebbiano that ages well!
The Pepe Trebbiano I had could kind of be described as neutral, but it was neutral in a good way, like a quiet friend who knows how to listen. It was an interesting wine without being overbearing. I get the same kind of Zen quality from the Nebbiolos of Ar.Pe.Pe. in Valtellina.

Agostino,

yeah, I have a couple, and last tried it about 3 years ago. Realize that Pepe and Valentini bring trebbiano to new heights, and these two growers transcend the varietal, but also be aware that '01 was not the best year for his white (I think the red (montepulciano) was fine), compared to past years.

I'll be on the lookout for that Frati; sounds like something I'd be interested in.

Mark

I think I gave the wrong impression. The 2001 was great. Great wine. I don't think it was a bad year at all (2002 was a bad year everywhere, even Sardinia). It wasn't neutral at all in that sense, but the nice thing was that it didn't hit you over the head with personality - which I think is what a lot of people look for these days. It wasn't restrained, it was big, warm and peaceful. I'm sorry if my descriptions aren't adequate but sometimes wines are hard to describe. The 2001 red on the other hand was not as interesting at this stage. But without sulfites added you don't know what you're going to get in 10 years. Like I said its a crap-shoot. Kind of like Coturri wines.

I was at Chambers this past Saturday for an Italian tasting. The 1978 Pepe, Emidio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo was generously included in the tasting. I would generally concur with CB's tasting note; particularly the notes of dried herbs overlaying a soil structure (the kind of soil I like to drink). However, the $135 tarrif was too steep for me to consider a bottle purchase.

wine should be within reach of normal, middle-class people, otherwise, what's the point?

Selling to lower or upper class people?

What's normal about middle-class people?

I haven't had the 78, but they were pouring the 77 and the 85 at a tasting in June and I found them both a bit too sour/rancid for my tastes.

Rahsaan,

You take what I say too literally. Were you born in Germany?

Poor middle-class people, rich lower-class people, etc. etc. It used to be only 15 years ago that cheap wine was 8 bucks, good wine 15, expensive wine 20 and ultra-expensive was 30. The range was acceptable, it was human. Now some wines are priced so you either have to sell your child or win the lottery. I don't think its fair that someone who decides to make a career in carpentry or teaching can't drink an artisanal wine and is confined to industrial swill. What's the point of making a wine that will only be drunk by Wall St. bankers? That's all I'm saying - if I made wine, I would try to put a fair price on it because the act of sharing it would be part of the reason for making it. Wine is a joyous beverage that brings people together - pricing it in the stars breeds division and snobbery. Of course the reality is that if a wine is made hip by the press, the producer can sell it at five bucks and it will still reach 100, but that's another story.

Rahsaan,

You take what I say too literally. Were you born in Germany?

Poor middle-class people, rich lower-class people, etc. etc.

Sorry for having standards of discourse that expect you to mean what you say

The reason I get particularly irritated by the phrase 'normal middle-class people' is not just because it doesn't make sense. In Western countries, the 'middle class' may be numerically larger than the upper or lower classes, but that doesn't make them the ideological norm in cultural matters. The phrase 'normal middle-class people' implies that those people are part of a universal culture that is at the base of society. However, that is factually incorrect and ignores the specific conditions under which the middle-class tastes evolved as well as the fact that they are no more or less particular/normal/universal etc than upper or lower class tastes. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with middle-class culture. I just get irked when people forget how particular they really are in the world.

Anyway, back to wine...

It used to be only 15 years ago that cheap wine was 8 bucks, good wine 15, expensive wine 20 and ultra-expensive was 30. The range was acceptable, it was human. Now some wines are priced so you either have to sell your child or win the lottery. I don't think its fair that someone who decides to make a career in carpentry or teaching can't drink an artisanal wine and is confined to industrial swill. What's the point of making a wine that will only be drunk by Wall St. bankers?

I wasn't buying wine 15 years ago but I do believe you're compressing the high end.

Regardless, if you make your own wine you are free to charge what you like. But carpenters and teachers are certainly not confined to industrial swill. There is plenty of artisanal wine that costs less than $30. But what makes you think a carpenter or a teacher is necessarily any more deserving of drinking a grand wine than a Wall Street banker. There will be refined palates and terrible palates in both camps. Now I'm not someone who chases the big expensive wines and I often complain about pricing. But I have no problem with people who make exceptional wine being rewarded for their efforts. Whether or not all the wine that gets exceptional prices is worth the price tag is another story...

[David M. Bueker]

The 2001 red on the other hand was not as interesting at this stage. But without sulfites added you don't know what you're going to get in 10 years. Like I said its a crap-shoot. Kind of like Coturri wines.

Coturri? That's a (usually) damning comparison.

Rahsaan, I think he just means middle class incomes.

David, I don't think he means it pejoratively (or the inverse), just that you never know if a Coturri wine will be excellent (as it ought to be) or undrinkable (because of some combo of unsanitary winery conditions and low SO2).

Yours truly,

Google Translate

[David M. Bueker]

Rahsaan, I think he just means middle class incomes.

David, I don't think he means it pejoratively (or the inverse), just that you never know if a Coturri wine will be as excellent as it ought to be or undrinkable because of unsanitary conditions/low SO2.

About 90% of the Coturri wines I have ever opened have been undrinkable, so forgive my assumption.

As for middle-class incomes, what are they?

Rahsaan, I think he just means middle class incomes

If so, then why add the word 'normal'. It doesn't make sense. What's an abnormal middle class income?

[David M. Bueker]

What's an abnormal middle class income?

Ask Marty Feldman.

Rahsaan, I think he just means middle class incomes

If so, then why add the word 'normal'. It doesn't make sense. What's an abnormal middle class income?

I'm probably being too nitpicky about this. To the extent that Agostino wants wines to be available to the average middle-class person, I am ok. But I wouldn't call that person 'normal' because it has all sorts of implications about the correct frame of reference and who has the legitimate perspective on life, which I don't agree with.

Ok, rant(s) over.

As someone whose first language is also not English, I know how tricky it can be to use words from one's own language that have a close enough meaning but can also mean something different. I believe Agostino is using normal in the sense of ordinary, average, run-of-the-mill, not in normal v. Abby Normal.

David, found this about what middle class income might be:

If we define it solely by income, then according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a household income of $36,000 to $57,657 in 2005 landed you squarely in the middle class. If you want to expand the definition to include "lower" and "upper" middle class, the range widens considerably, from $19,178 to $91,704. Here's the breakdown, with each "quintile" representing 20% of U.S. households:

1st quintile
$0
$19,177
Poor/working poor

2nd quintile
$19,178
$35,999
Lower middle class

3rd quintile
$36,000
$57,657
Middle class

4th quintile
$57,658
$91,704
Upper middle class

5th quintile
$91,705
Bill Gates?
Upper class

Source: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Sa ... Class.aspx

PS: the half dozen Coturris I tried at Chambers and the one I brought down to Brazil were all in good shape, so if we combine our experiences, perhaps the average creeps closer to 50/50?

[David M. Bueker]

Oswaldo - an annual income of $91K is not even close to upper class. That is where statistics are very misleading.

As for Coturri - I have been through 40+ bottles with about 4-6 that were palatable. I bought a bunch after tasting at the winery & got screwed.

Oswaldo - an annual income of $91K is not even close to upper class. That is where statistics are very misleading.

As for Coturri - I have been through 40+ bottles with about 4-6 that were palatable. I bought a bunch after tasting at the winery & got screwed.

While it may not be your definition of upper class, given the data that Oswaldo cites, it does mean that 4 out of 5 households make less than $91k - so why isn't that 'even close to upper class'? I have a lot of sympathy for what Agostino is trying to express: what we are discussing is just freaking fermented grape juice. There are artisinal, organic producers who charge $15/bottle and those that charge $100 for a bottle of Trebbiano. Why? Wine should be something we should be able to enjoy every day - and not only those of us who can afford the rare, expensive stuff (e.g. 90% of what gets discussed on wine boards).

Yes, midway through one of my earlier rants I felt bad for picking on Agostino because his English is very very good (is it in fact native?) but I speak a few other languages not at all perfectly and know the perils of expressing myself under those circumstances.

While it may not be your definition of upper class, given the data that Oswaldo cites, it does mean that 4 out of 5 households make less than $91k - so why isn't that 'even close to upper class'?

Because class is not only about income. It's also about status (class and status are about how you earned your money and what you do with your money, income is mainly just counting). And geographic variation (e.g. $91K in Nyc is not at all the same as $91K in Lubbock Texas). But I think we're getting into some serious thread drift here

There are artisinal, organic producers who charge $15/bottle and those that charge $100 for a bottle of Trebbiano. Why?

Because the $15 and the $100 bottle don't come from the same plots of land and don't require the same investments.

Wine should be something we should be able to enjoy every day - and not only those of us who can afford the rare, expensive stuff (e.g. 90% of what gets discussed on wine boards).

There is plenty of wine that you can enjoy every day but that doesn't mean wine isn't also about the peak bottles that are special achievements in wine making. And if you think that DRC, Margaux, etc get too much play here on WLDG, you obviously haven't checked in on Ebob lately

[David M. Bueker]

There are artisinal, organic producers who charge $15/bottle and those that charge $100 for a bottle of Trebbiano. Why?

Because people will pay for it.

And as for middle versus upper class, Rahsaan has it right. In an area where a 2 bedroom apartment costs $1400/month, $91K is tough to get by on for a family, much less afford some nice wine.

I don't have the resources, but it would be interesting to make up a chart showing, since around the time of the industrial revolution, the price of an icon like Chateau Margaux as a multiple of the minimum wage (or some proxy) of Britain, France or the US. Then we might see more objectively how its affordability (or not) varied over time to whoever we define as the average joe. Perhaps it was already way out of reach in 1855, and remained so at all times since. Or perhaps it oscilated in and out of reach, as this or that social trend, or structural change in the distribution of income, took hold (not to mention the two world wars).