It’s no secret that I’ve grown obsessive with Emidio Pepe’s red. Just fucking delicious.
Learnings from the winemaker: their reds go through a vinification and 2 years aging in concrete tanks (no oak!). After bottling, they are further aged for 7 years.

By this time, the winemaker then releases 50% of the batch for sale. For the remaining 50%, they are stored on site and released in small batches occasionally.

Emidio Pepe also runs a very unique “decanting” process: for wines older than 20 years old, the winemakers re-test the wine, and rebottles them to remove the sediments. This happens only when the winery receives specific orders from key buyers or distributors. Implication? Wines labeled “decanted” and bought from reputable sources are not only typically very old and aged in optimal conditions, they have also been tasted. Meaning that both quality and provenance are guaranteed.