Ep. 395 Milena Pepe | Discover Italian Regions: Campania

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Hello. This is the Italian wine podcast with me, Montewarden. My guest today is Milena Pepe of the tenuta cavalier Pepe winery, who's TAwazi, TOCG reserva Lalogia Delcavalieri, vintage two thousand and thirteen, scored ninety eight points at five star wines the book twenty twenty. Which, of course, also includes wine without walls. The Torazzi docG at Iserva Laoggi del Caballieri, two thousand thirteen vintage, was awarded the best red wine or the miliorvino Roso de Milleventi. The judges describe the entry as follows. Deep Ruby, multi layered nose of precise dark fruit, with bramble, black cherry blueberry sticking out, along with sweet spices, lovely full bodied mouthfeel, with great balance between the higher acidity and the ripe and fine grained tannins. The oak is still present, so this wine needs more aging, long, velvety aftertaste, beautiful. And congratulations to them. Okay. So the first question, where is your winery located Yes. So, my name is Milena Pappe, and, my family owned the winery, the family paper. My winery is in province of Avelino. In the European, area, three kilometers from, Taurasi. So in the DOC sheet Taurasi, in the red area of ionic or grape variety. Okay. And so you're in the Campania region. And we are in the Campania region. Yes. Around seventy kilometers from Naples. Okay. So can you tell us the story of the winery, when was it founded and and who founded it, and how did you become involved? So, I arrived in two thousand and five in the winery, but it's a winery who already exists into my grandmother, my wind fighter, and my father. So, we have the vineyards, and my father who is in Belgium since he was nineteen. So he's born in Italy. He has, ten, nine brother and sister. And he's the only one who live in Belgium, because he met my mother in Belgium when he was young. And, he stayed in Belgium and, begin to work in the restaurant. So today is still a a restaurator, and but he invests all his, time also in Italy to create, an activity near his family, near logosano Tabarasi, is families here, and I'm living here since fifteen years. And so, it developed with the family, the vineyards. So increase, the area, to plain restructure rebuild the vineyards. And when I arrived in two thousand and five after my study in Viticulture and Technology in France, I arrived in Italy, and, I began to winnificates our group's variety. So our Otokton's group variety, fiano, Gregor, falangina, code, Adivolpe, and Ayanyika. So, it's a family business. I'm the one who, who, who, who managed from the winery, from the vineyards, to the commercial, but my father is the one who invest and has the ID, who create the the the the winery. And I try to do my best, to to continue, because it's a passion. It's really nice to do our, our projection and try to do, qualities in the authenticity. Each one has its own identity, but in, the identity of the territory, but in the quality. So also for the aging, I really pay attention. So it's not only about I have a good territory because we are really in a good territory with good weather, good source, but also we have to take care of the the aging, for example, for the Taurasi. There is study, and respect of the of the vineyards. And the wine and how to work in the winery. That really comes through in the wine. Yeah. If you can come, I will do a vertical maybe of of, the wine, from you, it was a big surprise to receive, the best hours of this year for the red, the best red of Italy for you because, you always appreciate this one. And, it was, grateful for me and for my father. So thank you very much because it was a hard time and to receive this positive way for me was really, really nice. And thank you very much. So when you're when you're making your wine, are you using, and aging the wine? Are you fermenting in stainless steel and aging in oak or, is it all stainless steel? How does it work? Well, we have several wines. So it depends. We have seven white mainly made from four or top tone gray variety, and we do hundred percent of each gray variety for the white. So we have, the foxtail, that I do hundred percent. And here, I have only one stainless steel, but I have no aging in need for the cudadie volpe. Then I have, two fiano di avelino, two Gregco de tufa, and tuf, irpinga Falangina doc. And we have the stainless steel vat version, and we have also the aging one who have fermentation in bars. For the fiano de Aveline and Greco Dituffer, Barankato and Grankara, we aging in, we we fermented in French Oaks barrels and then aging for six months. Instead, if Pina Falangina Doc is fermentating an aging in French oak wood, but the big balance of three thousand liters. So I have both, wine because we have different products for different, moment of matching, and drinking the wine for the wines. For the red, I have, five reds. Two are blend, with, grapes, variety, most smooth, like, Merlo, and free are a hundred percent of all yaniko. And those are ones who come later on the market. Two thousand, and fifteen, doc. And then we have our two, Taurasi, Taurasi, Operami, a two thousand and thirteen, and, La loja del Cabaliire Taurasi reserve two thousand and thirteen. They are all ayanico hundred percent, but they are one who come later on the market, have a fermentation, in stainless steel. And, after aging in a French of barrels, little, and then big one, and also an aging in salmon. So, and then also in bottle. We come on the market, around seven year before selling our Taurasi. Yeah. And just a reminder, the two thousand and thirteen was voted, was one the best red wine or Milo Rino rosso at five star wines, the book twenty twenty. And you got ninety seven points for that. And I remember tasting that novelty taste like a lot of times during the, during the, judging. And, fantastic wine, really well done to you and, to your family, excellent, really, really well put together. Fantastic wine. Thank you very much. I just had to mention that. In terms of, sales, where are your biggest market, how big is the Italian market, and then how big are your ex for markets. It's around forty five, forty five percent are in, you know, aboard and fifty five in Italy. So I make so whole winery, but, I try to to act to present my wine. And today, we are more than thirty country. We're exporting more than thirty country. Ypina, me, it's not really know, has touscany to the main public, but it's a area we really know for a person, who are more known in the wine sector. So if we if we come and visit you in, Urpina, that part of, avellino province, what attractions are there in terms of, tourist attractions? Well, mainly, we are on the main attraction. Because, since I've been giving, I opened the winery on Saturday and Sunday. So from Monday to Sunday, you can come. You are you I've been there, but I have also a person who studied, video culture and analogy, who are with me and make the wine tour. So may, the presentation and, tour in the vineyards, and we have a vineyard of more than hundred years old. So we have the work in the vineyards. In the olive trees. We have, the importance to see the winery because aging is really important for Taurasi. So also to see how we care about the wine during the years, And then, you can have the one tasting the winery or have lunch in the restaurant, upstairs, and you see all the, all the panorama of the irpina because it's, you know, top of a hill, and you see all the panorama. You can also make and stay and sleep in our area. We are free kilometers from Taurasi. So we have, Taurasi to visit his castle, the centrum. Then we have also le parc archaeological, the, Miavelle Clano, where we also have vineyards there. It's also a really nice, park to see. We have, here, good food It's really calm area, but beautiful, healthy place to stay for a few days. Then if you stay more, you can move because, the coast is within here. You can be in Salerno, Naples. In forty five minutes. Mhmm. It just came back to your comments about, your trainees and also the oak aging. One one thing that the judges were impressed by by your wine was the fact that the wood and the fruit were very, very clean and clear. Sometimes from the south, you can have, wines that maybe don't always have that parity. And in your case, it was really, really, really well done, and, it really stood out. And it showed, the best of your particular region. There's nothing worse than having a wine that is It's just a bit blurred and a bit muddy due to due to bad oaking. Just to let you know, my brother-in-law is from Erpini. He's from Elvania. So I'm being very soft today. So final question. What is a traditional dish from your region that would pair, especially well with your Taurazii. Well, I've thought about a lot of, dishes, but for the Taurazim, you have of the meat. The lamp is really good with La loja de Cavaliere. And also, we have two main important. She's in our area. One is made of coal and one is made of sheep. The name are Caciocavallo Podolico. And the other one is Karamashano, where our two kids, who may age for more six months, and then, you can age in two more. There are cheese who really, can match with our Taurasi. And then we have our meat here. The lamb is really good. Well, thank you for coming on the Italian wine podcast and speaking to us today to celebrate your success at five star wine. Thank you to you. Yeah. You made a great advert for the, for the region. And the care and love that you gave that wine and also the technical excellence really, really came through. So well done to you, well done to your team, well done to all those foreign students that are coming and learning from you. That's really important that you're transmitting some of what you know, that's gonna have a wider instant just to Italy. So, well done on all fronts, and we look forward to that vertical tasting in Verona. Balena, thank you very much indeed. Thank you. Take care. Tell me later. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time, she in Chin.