Death of Emidio Pepe, an Italian wine legend
The wine world is in mourning. Emidio Pepe has passed away at the age of 94. An iconic winemaker from Abruzzo, he devoted more than six decades to championing a vision that was exacting, artisanal, and deeply rooted in his terroir.
When he decided in 1964 to bottle the wines from his family estate in Torano Nuovo, few could have imagined that his Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Trebbiano would go on to become global benchmarks. Long before the concepts of sustainable viticulture or biodynamics gained traction, Emidio Pepe was already prioritizing manual labor, natural fermentation, aging in concrete tanks, and minimal intervention in the cellar.
Today, his daughters Daniela and Sofia, joined by the next generation of the family, are carrying on the legacy of the man who profoundly changed the way the world views the great wines of Abruzzo. More than just a winemaker, Emidio Pepe leaves behind the legacy of a man who demonstrated that loyalty to the land could become a model admired around the world.
