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Sunday, August 28, 2016

2003 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo & 2008 Vajra Freisa Kye

Quite a pleasure to have wines from these two Producers served side by side at dinner.

The '03 Emidio Pepe MdA is a fruit forward voluptuous wine with an amazingly rich bombshell of a nose, all reflective of the warm vintage. On its own, it has a very pleasing palate...but it lacks the structure needed to make it truly food friendly. It was slow-o'd for 2 hours prior to dinner. What an amazing, old school cuvee. I love this producer. No reason to hold onto the '03 for a lot longer.  It's ready now IMO. Note: as discussed in a related thread, the date on the cork is when the wine was decanted into a new bottle at the winery prior to being released to the market. 

The '08 Vajra Freisa Kye was punching way above its weight class on this evening with an excellent showing. I haven't had one of these in years. Almost Nebbiolo-esque with very nice stucture. Delightful with food. Stops short of greatness due to lack of complexity (yet perhaps may develop with additional bottle age , or is it just a limitation of this varietal?). It was slow-o'd all day , which likely helped with such a favorable showing at dinner. 

Difficult to pick a favorite. .. 
The Emidio Pepe MdA had more going on with fascinating layers within the rich fruit. 
The Vajra Freisa Kye had the edge paired with food because of its more complete framework. 

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