'04 Pepe Trebbiano - A Question

M

Mike Klein

Mike Klein
A question for the enlightened ones.....

We opened an '04 Pepe Trebbiano on Saturday with dinner. I've never had the wine previously so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was gorgeous for a few minutes after opening but then seemed to tighten up significantly. We decanted it which helped a bit but the wine stayed pretty reticent over a couple of hours. If we hadn't been at a restaurant, I'd have been tempted to stick it back in the bottle and come back to it the next night.

We loved the slightly orange wine character and pretty stone fruits on opening, so I'm optimistic about it. For those with much more experience, do these need really extended aeration or more time in the bottle? Just curious.
 
originally posted by Mike Klein:
'04 Pepe Trebbiano - A QuestionA question for the enlightened ones.....

We opened an '04 Pepe Trebbiano on Saturday with dinner. I've never had the wine previously so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was gorgeous for a few minutes after opening but then seemed to tighten up significantly. We decanted it which helped a bit but the wine stayed pretty reticent over a couple of hours. If we hadn't been at a restaurant, I'd have been tempted to stick it back in the bottle and come back to it the next night.

We loved the slightly orange wine character and pretty stone fruits on opening, so I'm optimistic about it. For those with much more experience, do these need really extended aeration or more time in the bottle? Just curious.
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The wine goes through malo in bottle, so there is some variation. Plus they bottle straight from the individual tanks, without blending of lots, so there is some variation. Plus they have different parcels of Trebbiano, on different sites and of different age (and also a bit of Malvasia). Those parcels are usually vinified in specific tanks given the parcel, so there is some variation.

I generally recommend decanting and waiting. The 2004 has been, in the past, one of my all time favorites. 2004 is also one of Emidio's personal favorites. A recent 2001 was excellent. I've had back to the mid-1990s with good results. You will rarely see much older than that, because the winery does not hold quantities of the white back to the extent that they do for the red.

May I ask you if you had the bottle in the States or in Europe? The European Trebbiano goes through malo in tank. And by tank I mean lined cement.
 
Thanks very much for the feedback Levi. We had the wine here in San Diego. I believe I purchased the bottles from a west coast retailer but I can't quite recall. You could sense some greatness in the wine but it was being quite shy. When I have it again, I'll try to give it a bit more time to stretch its legs.
 
We had the 2001 Pepe Trebbiano recently and it showed beautifully. I am checking to see if and when it was decanted, but I was struck by the combination of floral aromatics, orchard fruit, and even a grain character that seems to be unique to best Trebbiano.
 
originally posted by MarkS:
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
...and even a grain character that seems to be unique to best Trebbiano.
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By grain character, could that be hops to me?
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I was thinking more of the barley. Probably not that specific grain, but the wine seems to offer something different than just grapes. The impression is perhaps even stronger with the Trebbiano from Bea...
 
originally posted by Carl Steefel:
We had the 2001 Pepe Trebbiano recently and it showed beautifully. I am checking to see if and when it was decanted, but I was struck by the combination of floral aromatics, orchard fruit, and even a grain character that seems to be unique to best Trebbiano.
Click to expand...

I've always really liked the 2001. More on the powerful side for what the wine can be.
 
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