Montepepe
- Wines Made by Gaja Star Federico Curtaz
- A BIG, BIG Deal in Italy
- Sold in Many Top Michelin Starred Restaurants
- Represented by One of Italy's TOP Distributors
- Almost Sold Out Immediately on Release
- We Are LUCKY to Get an Allocation
- Wines Much More Akin to Wines from Burgundy or Germany
- A Major, Major, Major Find, Especially At These Prices
2012 Montepepe Special Selection
- One of the Great non Rhone Syrah-Based Wines
- Nose: Florals in Spades
- Game Roasted in Lavender
- An Elite Level Nose
- Palate: Ridiculous
- Gorgeous Silky Tannins
- Elite Texture of Very Expensive Well Made Wine
- Perfect Cherry
- Some Deacidified Red Currant
- So Elegant
- Top Level Cote Rotie Refinement
- Cherry Pit, Almost Almondy
- Crazy Complexity
- $37.99 for a Top Level Cote Rotie Lookalike with 9 Years of Age
- A Major, Major Value - Elite Level Quality at Everyday Drinking Prices
2018 Montepepe Bianco
- Best and Oldest White Wine Vines on the Estate
- Steepest and Highest Slopes
- Nose is Gorgeous
- The Most Elegant Kiss of Vermentino Smoke
- Floral Incense
- Elegant Floral Viognier Aromatics
- What Viognier Should Be but Rarely Is
- Integrated Liquefied Minerals
- Diverse Field of Flowers
- Gorgeous Floral Brine
- So Beautiful... So Complex
- One of the Best Italian White Wine Noses I’ve Smelled
- Palate: Spectacular
- Gorgeous Sweet Fruit
- Perfect Deacidified Lemon
- Lemon Peel
- Integrated Minerals
- Elite Deliciousness
- Top Tier 1er Cru
- At $33.99 a Ridiculous Value - Even at Fass Selections
The Background Most of you have read about Montepepe, whose founding winemaker is Federico Curtaz. Curtaz was the lead agronomist at Gaja for over a decade and is one of Italy’s top wine professionals. The estate is run by Alberto Poggi, a highly successful architect. He's another one of these guys that focuses 100% on the quality of everything related to the estate. He had the vision and guts to make a huge investment to make serious wine where no one else was making it. As he says "pazzo" (crazy).
We got samples in the mail and then the pandemic hit. So we didn’t visit the winery and hear the story. We thought it was a small winery attached to a hotel. Oops. It turns out that Montepepe is actually decent size (24,000 bottles per year over 6 hectares). It is represented within Italy by Munimport, one of Italy's most important distributors. And the wines are sold in many top Michelin starred restaurants all over Italy.
It’s a big deal.
The wines are almost all sold to Munimport every year so they don’t need to sell to the US market and that’s why we were able to get them. Their remaining bottle count is too low for a normal US importer.
One final note before I get to the wines. They harvest in August so that the wines do not become too fruity or alcoholic. They are much more akin to wines from Burgundy or Germany even though they are an hour south of Bolgheri. It’s possible the cooling breezes from the ocean 3 miles away) help in this regard but what do I know?
Oh, and the estate was originally created more than 200 years ago by the Bourbon Duke of Lucca and Enfante d'Espagne to use as his personal winery.
The Wines We’re selling 2 wines today. The first is the 2012 Montepepe Special Selection for $37.99 a bottle on a 4 pack. This is a special selection of their best grapes.
This is another profoundly well made Italian Syrah on the same level as the wines from Peter Vinding Diers. Here you are getting a 9 year old wine direct from the cellar.
The nose is incredibly perfumed. On open, you get elegant aromatics of cooking fruit. As it aerates a bit, the florals come out in spades. Lovely lilacs. A hint of game roasted in lavender. Simply gorgeous - you can profitably sniff this for a good 10 minutes before even tasting it. The aromatics change every 5 minutes. This is an elite level nose. It's wide open now after it's time at the estate.
On the palate, the first thing that you notice is the silky tannins. This is the elite texture of very expensive well made wine. Slightly grippy but so elegant. You sip it and it's pure perfection. Perfect cherry. Some deacidified red currant. So elegant. You are getting top level Cote Rotie refinement here. Some cherry pit, almost almondy. Crazy Complexity - this changes every 5 minutes. Wow. The fruit on this is so clean and precise - the result of crazy levels of vineyard work.
This drinks well with a 2 hour decant but optimal needs 2-3 years.
The second wine should really have its own offer but they are running out at the estate and I need to sell it. It’s the 2018 Montepepe BIanco for $33.99 each on a 4 pack. This is 70% Vermentino and 30% viognier. These are the best and oldest white wine vines on the estate from the steepest and highest slopes.
The nose is gorgeous, you get the most elegant kiss of Vermentino smoke. Like floral incense. It’s so expansive. Then you get those floral viognier aromatics. What you wish Viognier would be but never is. Elegant florals, but not obsequious. Integrated minerals. An incredible diverse field of flowers. Liquefied minerals. Gorgeous floral brine. So beautiful. So complex. I smelled this wine for 20 minutes before taking a sip. Simply gorgeous. One of the best Italian white wine noses I’ve smelled.
The palate is spectacular. Such gorgeous sweet fruit. Perfect deacidified lemon. Lemon peel. Integrated minerals. Delicious. So juicy. An incredibly well made wine. The finish lingers and clings. Gods lemon peel. So sapid. Wow this is delicious. It has everything you want: minerals, fruit, acidic balance.
This wine will age for at least a decade. Based on my experience with older bottlings of their other blends, I think that this will improve with age.
At this price, this wine is a stunner. You are getting $100ish Viognier aromatics for under $35. It’s a skoche of density shy of being a grand cru level wine. As these vineyards age, this bottling should get even better.
2012 Montepepe Rosso Riserva Speciale $39.99 ($151.96 4-Pack)
2018 Montepepe Bianco - $35.99 ($135.96 4-Pack) |
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