Emidio Pepe

Emidio Pepe is one of Italy's most iconic wineries, founded in 1964 in Torano Nuovo, in the province of Teramo, on a family history dating back to 1899. Long before natural wine became a trend, Emidio always worked with spontaneous fermentations, hand-harvesting and hand-destemming, aging in glass-lined cement tanks, and no addition of sulfites. The vineyards have been biodynamically certified since 2005 and trained in the traditional pergola abruzzese system, which shields the grapes from direct sunlight.

Today the winery is led by daughters Sofia and Daniela, and grandchildren Chiara and Elisa, who rigorously uphold the founder's philosophy. The two wines — Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Trebbiano d'Abruzzo — are bottle-aged for years before release, and older vintages are periodically "revived" through manual uncorking and re-corking. The extraordinary longevity of these wines has helped rewrite Abruzzo's reputation on the world stage.