Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2021

Emidio Pepe has been working Montepulciano by hand since 1964, and Branella is part of the new chapter. One of two single-vineyard bottlings that, as of the 2020 release, replaced the old-vines Montepulciano entirely. Pergola-trained fruit off speckled blue clay marls, with more iron and manganese in the soil than neighboring Casa Pepe, and you can feel it: dark-fruited, wound tight, minerality running straight through the mid-palate. This is Abruzzo with a pedigree, and there is no third wine hiding behind it.