Ep. 15 Monty Waldin interviews Chiara De Iulis Pepe of Emidio Pepe | Discover Italian Regions: Abruzzo

Italian wine podcast. Chinching with Italian wine people. Hello. You're listening to the Italian wine podcast with Montewood. And today's guest is Kiara Pepe, from the Media Pepe winery in Toronto, in the Abruzzo region. Exactly. Child, everyone. Thank you. Tell us a little bit about the family history because yours is one of the most historic estates or probably the most historic estate in the world. Well, well, Micron Fatter started making wine in nineteen before. And he was born in the place we are now living and making the wine. As his name is? Emil Pepepepe. He has, learned how to make wine from his father and his grandfather. And we just, never changed the way of winemaking. So now, the third generation after him, and we're still making the wine exactly as his grandfather was making the wine. So what has changed in a brusso in general and at Euro State in particular over those years, because you are seen as an incredibly traditional estate, but in the best sense of the word, you've preserved all the best of the historic traditions and added a little bit of modernity as well without sacrificing quality. How do you do that? Well, that's interesting because as a family, yeah, it's true. We are very traditional, and we are very close to tradition, but then we learned, with modern technology, with analysis that grandfather couldn't do before. How's this tradition was really making sense? Like, why crashing by feet meant something to the quality of the wine, how that kept the acidity high, how the paracola could keep the elegance of attendance. And we started it all that, and now we have, like, technical studies that grandfather didn't do before. So you still, you don't still crush the grapes with your feet, do you? We actually do. Yes. Amazing. So is that the whole family in there together? Oh, family. And she sings sort. How do you keep yourself occupied? You sing songs? We'll talk about the football results. We dance a lot. As a family, we really dance a lot. Crownfighter is a great dancer, and so the old family We have we are very loud. We have a lot of music on, and we keep crushing feet and grapes for seven days during harvest. Really? Yes. So your legs are just black at the end of every day. Right? Well, that's why we don't need gym all year long. He's good at the gym. So you also mentioned, pergola, for those of you that don't know pergola is the really traditional way of growing grapes near Brooke. So just explain a little bit about the difference between pergola and say modern ways of growing. See, pergola, again, as you said, is the historical way of growing grapevine brusso, and grandfather loves the pergola keeps the pergola and try to replend as much pergola as possible. Because he thinks that just letting the leaves develop horizontally, you have much more photosynthesis and much more energy, kept and absorbed by the leaves from the sun. And like that, you have the energy will be transferred to the grapes by the sap. But at the same time, the grapes are always protected by the sun. So like that, you keep the elegance of the dendants and the grape never get burned, which is very important for the the the legacy of such a a tenic grape, because if that will get burned, then the one would turn to be very heavy. So like that, grandfather is the only way you get the velvet sense of the multiple channel. And at the same time, you keep the acidity that you will lose otherwise. So the pergola base is having grapes growing off the ground, and the grapes hanging underneath the leaves. Exactly. It's to me at a stall and the vines develop and, opens in four different directions that creates a carpet of leaves to meet or stall. Two meters above the ground. Yes. And all the graves grow under the leaves. So in the shade. So they get partial. So they they can see the sun, but the sun can't see the grapes. Exactly. Yeah. Is that quite difficult to pick? Cause you gotta reach above your head to to cut the grapes. Right? Right. To me, that's easier, but otherwise you would have to bend on the ground. So like that is kind of know, it's pretty easy to reach. It's a different movement, but it's, it's not bad. And also, because you're picking, you can pick in the shade, right? You're not getting direct sun. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Much better. So what's the disadvantage of pergola? Is it just mainly cost? No. A lot of people think that the pergola is not exactly right because of humidity that creates below the leaves. As because we do very short pruning, we keep a lot of aeration between, you know, below the leaves and up. So that's, that's not a problem for us. And also, because the way the where we are located we have a lot of wing constantly because we have the C very close and the month and very close. So we never have a lot of problem with humidity and eventually mild to you and all those chemicals. And also, you're organic. So that people say, well, it must be more difficult diseases. So you you made a difficult choice with Perger. I think it's the best choice, and I totally agree with you. And, you're doing it organically, so it must work. And that's why you're getting the results. See, my grandfather has always made the wine in a very natural natural way. And he always thought that was the only way to make wine because I've never seen something different because his father was not using any chemical because back in time, the didn't exist. So it just kept doing that way. For the microclimate, we have grandfather was lucky to have such a great situation because it's windy. It's very close to the sea. We have the mountain that protects us. So he always has been biodynamic without really knowing it. He always respected moon phases. But again, he could do that because it was in a lucky position. So that, you know, mildews and diseases were not developing easily. So what another thing that's incredible about Euro State is is wines generally from southern Italy are seen as cheap and cheerful, they're to be drunk, not to be aged. Yeah. So your wines can age many, many years, but they are also drinkable when they're young. Why is that? Is that because the quality of the the vineyards and how you do things? Well, grandfather thinks the quality of the grape, but he has always had this great idea behind the multiple channel that he always thought. That he not only could age, but it was meant to be aged. And everything actually started, I've been nearly fifty years ago, when he came, to show his wine here, It was making wine since two years at the time. And there was like a brochure, a leaflet saying that Monte Pulciano was a grape meant to be drank when it was young, not to be aged. And grandfather when he read that, I was like, well, this is crazy. We're, like, showing the wines and we are telling them that this wine is not supposed to age. Well, actually is the complete opposite. He came home and he stocked half of his production and didn't release for the rest of the year. And since since then, he kept doing that. So he kept aging the wines since then, and half of the production every single year. So as well as the red wines you make from the montepulceano grape is easily the most underrated grape in Italy as well. Yes. But because of the history, and because we have to say that most of the winery in a BRutzel, have grown and became big and very short time. And because the the Montepulciano is so ten neck and has high such high acidity, it was very easy to sell bulk and, not bottle and also because to make a great wine out of Montepulciano, it requires a lot of energy, lots of attention, a lot of knowledge. So clearly, it's not easy. But you also make a white wine from another underrated grape. Often vilify at the Treviana See. Which has a many, big story about Treviano, but we're going to attack. How do you do that? What are you doing with Treviano? You're also using pergola for Treviano? Yes. Also because the season will grow and warmer, warmer, we need to protect our graves more. So, yeah, everything is on pergola. Do you treat those grapes by foot as well, surely not? No. The tribunal actually is trodden by fee, and the the Monteboursan is disarmed by hand. That's actually One of the reason because Avoz Turbiano has such a great personality is because of the treading by feet. That because there you have a forty, fifty minutes constant stimulation with the skin with juice by crashing by feet. That actually have the release of matter of texture of personality by that. So once it's it's done, ninety percent of the juice comes out of there, and then we finish pressing the skin, again, a little more with the normal torque, very old style. And then all the juice ferment in concrete tanks lined with glass. What is a good match food wise for your white wine, your dried serviano. What's a good dish? Well, suddenly. Sorry. In the brusso dish. Yeah. Yeah. Something that we do pretty often, you know, would be Olive lascolana that are, you know, there's the Olive. Olives. But there are stuffed with meat. And then deep fried. Wow. And for the multiple chana red wine, what does a good dish for that? For the multiple chana, we do a lot of, lamb and a brusa because the traditional meat of a brusa is lamb. So we prepared alignment many, many different ways. Grandma started very well. And so But not too spicy, right? Not too spicy. No. No. No. Either we do like braised with mightosauce, or you can also do Cacheaova. You have many different words. It's, with parmesan, an egg, and then you let it bray so that he absorbs all the liquid, and it kind of turns out to be pretty amazing. And then you go and work off all that food by foot treading those grapes and picking them by hand above your head. That's the way. Really nice to meet you. Janna. Pleasure to hear. You are an iconic estate Thanks a lot. Just to fire me. So you're a beacon of Southern Italy for high quality consistency and innovation of our tradition. Amazing. Thanks a lot. Pleasure to be here. Follow us at Italian wine podcast on Facebook.