Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Monday, March 13, 2023 - 100% Montepulciano from organically farmed vineyards, all fruit fully destemmed. Fermented spontaneously and aged for two years in concrete tanks. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 13,5% alcohol. Bottle no. 29745.

Dense, fully opaque black cherry color that doesn't appear aged nor particularly youthful, either. The nose feels sweet-toned and slightly funky with aromas of ripe black cherries, some leathery notes of brett, a little bit of balsamic VA, light bramblu notes of black raspberries, a spicy hint of brett phenolics, a touch of wizened figs and a whiff of alcohol. The wine feels dense, juicy and quite chewy on the palate with a medium body and quite savory flavors of crunchy chokeberries and sour cherry bitterness, some funky lambic-like notes of brett, a little bit of gamey meat, light sweeter notes of boysenberries and wizened dark plums, a volatile hint of balsamic richness and a touch of iodine. The wine is beautifully textural but also impressively structured and sinewy with its high acidity and rather assertive, moderately grippy tannins. The finish is dry, dense and juicy with moderately pronounced tannic grip and a long, savory aftertaste of chokeberries and sour cherry bitterness, some blueberry tones, a little bit of ripe dark plum, light funky notes of leather and lambic-like phenolic spice, a hint of tobacco and a touch of balsamic VA.

In a tasting of ten Pepe Montepulcianos, this wine was the most similar to the funky yet powerful 2000 vintage. However, while that 2000 vintage was very heavily bretty with almost overwhelming funky tones, this wine had more intensity and concentration in the fruit department (probably thanks to its younger age) and a good deal less brett. This was still probably the second funkiest wine in the tasting, but here the bretty funk just added to the rustic charm of the wine without overwhelming any of the finer nuances. Structurally the wine was still very firm and pretty unresolved and from the flavor perspective the wine was still remarkably youthful for its age, even if the overall style wasn't primary in any way, anymore. Both these qualities promise volumes on the aging potential of the wine; even if the wine is very impressive now, I say it has still many, many years - maybe even decades - ahead. Drink, if you must, but preferably keep - this wine will reward patient cellaring.

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