The 2021 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Vecchie Vigne Casa Pepe is dark and intense. Wet stone and sage hints offset violets and crushed blackberries. It's soothingly round and supple with a wave of ripe blackberries and sour citrus that gives way to an herbal note toward the close. The 2021 finishes with a tinge of saline minerality and fine-grained tannins, tapering off long. A pleasant note of primary concentration makes perfect punctuation.
95+ points, Eric Guido, Vinous (Sep 2024)