'77 Emidio Pepe

M

Mike Klein

Mike Klein
I'll take a hiatus from my hiatus from posting notes to let you know about this. Bottle purchased from Chambers St. Barnyard and lots of funk on opening but it blew off with decanting. Superb acids and loads of fruit left on the palate. Rustic in the best sense. Went very well with smoked goat cheese raviolis in a veal reduction. What a classic. A real treat and a wine of character so you should get a bottle or two. Now back to your usual programming...
 
Glad to hear it's showing so well. I haven't had one for awhile -- I must have bought from the same stash. Mine showed okay but not great. I guess they're ready!
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Glad to hear it's showing so well. I haven't had one for awhile -- I must have bought from the same stash. Mine showed okay but not great. I guess they're ready!
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I love his wines; had the '85 on Wednesday night with the cheese course -- in an attempt to widen the horizons of an old bordeaux drinker; the Pepe followed an '83 Pichon Lalande (very nice and pretty much fully mature, i think) and '70 Palmer (utterly superb -- I've had this wine 6-9 timers over the past 10 years; it has never been less than outstanding; this bottle may have been the best and shows no sign of decline).

For the cheese course, I wanted to go with the windgap pinot gris and he wanted a big brunello; we agreed to settle on the Pepe as he'd never heard of it and at least it was red and not orange; he was not impressed. I and the others at dinner were; the '85 is drinking beautifully and the acidity was perfect with the cheeses. The fruit is ripe but not in any way out of balance or (of course) over-extracted. Lovely minerality and spice with all that electric acidity. Blossomed further in the decanter.
 
Cliff:

Mine was really bound up and funky with muted fruit for almost an hour. We decanted it and drank it about 1.5 hours later, at which point it really sang. Be sure to give it time and air.
 
originally posted by kirk wallace:
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by kirk wallace:
... had the '85 on Wednesday night ...
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God, that is a gorgeous wine.
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Isn't it, though? I have had it no more than 4 or 5 times in the past 2 years, but i find it ravishing and engaging each time.
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You folks are lucky. I had it once and it was too volatile for me. I had the '77 at the same time and it was also too volatile for me. But then maybe I'm more sensitive to this issue.
 
originally posted by Mike Klein:
Cliff:

Mine was really bound up and funky with muted fruit for almost an hour. We decanted it and drank it about 1.5 hours later, at which point it really sang. Be sure to give it time and air.
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Sage advice, no doubt. My recollection is that the bottle just showed dumb and closed. I will give the next one a chance to stretch out first. Thanks.
 
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