2019 Bibi Graetz Testamatta Rosso di Toscana IGT

• 97 Point Cult-Status Super Tuscan
• 50 to 80-Year-Old Sangiovese Vines
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About the Wine

Meet Bibi Graetz, the innovator reshaping the Tuscan wine scene with his visionary approach. Emerging onto the scene in 2000, this former artist swiftly transformed into a cult winemaker, now revered among the top echelon of Tuscan producers.

“Testa-Matta” in Italy is someone with a strong personality, a distinctive style, and positive attitude, and creativity. No other name could describe better Bibi Graetz flagship wine. Supertuscan made with 100% Sangiovese from old vines, this wine is the result of the combination of tradition and creativity, elevating the idea of Tuscan Sangiovese and bringing the word “Supertuscan” to the next level. Testamatta wine expresses the purity, minerality, and transparency of old-vine Sangiovese. Do you have what it takes to handle such a powerful wine?

Testamatta grapes are selected and sourced from the winery's best vineyards: Vincigliata, Londa, Lamole, Montefili, Siena. Each vineyard is harvested up to 8 times, making sure all the grapes are picked at peak ripening. The 5 vineyards, characterized by old age (up to 80 yrs) are located in different areas of Tuscany: Lamole & Montefili in the heart of Chianti Classico, Vincigliata nearby Firenze, Londa north of Firenze, towards the Rufina valley, and Siena south of Tuscany. The grapes hard hand-sorted before destemming and soft pressing. The fermentation is conducted by natural and indigenous yeasts, in open-top barriques.

Aging: 24 months in used barrique.

Tasting Notes: 100% Sangiovese. This Testamatta is so generous, it is able to deliver at the same time and with extreme balance the strength of the vintage and the elegance of Sangiovese. 2016 is so surprising in the glass, with a lot a different layers, starting from the red fruit, back tea, and earth aromas and continuing with tobacco, black cherry, and leather. This Testamatta has so much personality!

Reviews

Very attractive combination of dried fruit and spices with black cherries and plums. Aromas of flowers and sandalwood, too. Full-bodied and very refined, yet intense, with plush, velvety tannins that are wonderfully integrated and intertwined with the fruit. Ripe center palate. Tight at the end, suggesting the need for some serious bottle age. Very structured. ~97 James Suckling

Yet another fine year, however some wines in 2019 - although not Testamatta - lacked a little concentration. Relatively light in colour, it's at the other end of the density scale to the wines of the early 2000s. There are piquant raspberry and redcurrant aromas and both the nose and palate show admirable delicacy and restraint. Very elegant and pure, its fine acidity gives excellent length and ageing potential. ~96 Decanter

Dark ruby ​​garnet, violet reflections, subtle brightening of the edges. Fine red berry nuances, a hint of cherries, fresh orange zest, delicate strawberry notes, complex bouquet. Medium-bodied, fresh and balanced, fine, ripe tannins, mineral touch on the finish, very balanced, a finesse-filled accompaniment to food. ~96 Falstaff

A pure expression of Sangiovese, the Bibi Graetz 2019 Testamatta is a wine in constant evolution. Bibi has added 17 more hectares of vineyard to the program, with 12 hectares in Fiesole (north of Florence) and 5 hectares in San Donato in Colle (south of Florence) with 70-year-old vines. The base of the wine sees fruit from old vines planted in the 1950s in the cool-climate Lamole subzone of Chianti Classico. These new terroirs bring a lot more aromatic nuance and complexity to the wine with perfumed blue flower, candied orange peel, wet earth and plumy black fruit. White Alberese soils add a strong chalky mineral signature to the finish of this elegantly streamlined and linear Tuscan red. ~94 Wine Advocate 

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