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. Try after 2025.
Reviewer Name: James Suckling
Review Date: 23rd July 2021
The 20th anniversary bottling of Testamatta made, from the 2019 vintage, in brand new winemaking facilities in Florence. This just shines from the moment it’s poured. Layered and complex this is a gem of a wine filled with cherry, raspberry, damson and caramel notes alongside a savoury edge that makes it so moreish. Tannins that support but don't overwhelm give a nice overall weight to the palate while the flavous linger on the long finish. Made from old vines on stony soils on the Tuscan hilltops. Grapes are selected and sourced from the best five vineyards, which are divided into parcels and harvested up to eight times. Fermentation is in open-top barriques for the smaller parcels and in barrels or stainless steel for the larger ones without any temperature controls. Maceration for 7-10 days then moved into old barriques for 20 months.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2045
Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle
Review Date: 20th July 2021
20 year anniversary vintage at this brilliant 58ha estate, and it’s hard not to love the complexity and the sense of controlled power. Raspberry, black cherry, butterscotch, truffle, scorched earth and slate, cleverly put together with clear confidence. So much happens after the wine has left your mouth - it has a whole second act where much of the nuance appears. It’s the detail that sets Testamatta apart - with the team going through the vineyard up to 8 times to ensure picking when ripe - from estate-owned plots across Tuscany where the vines range from 5 years old up to 80 years old from 400m to 600m altitude. Natural yeasts, six manual punch downs per day, 10 days maceration maximum and barrel ageing with no new oak.
Review Date: 9th September 2021
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.
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2042
Reviewer Name: Monica Larner
Review Date: 24th August 2021
- Details
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- Year 2019
- Colour Red
- Country Italy
- Region Tuscany
- Sub Region Toscana
- Designation
- Classification
- Pack Size 6x75cl
- ABV 14°
- Drinking Window 2024 - 2045
- Drinking Recommendation Not Ready
- LWIN 110012120190600750
- Reviews (4)
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97 James Suckling
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. Try after 2025.
Reviewer Name: James Suckling
Review Date: 23rd July 2021
96 DecanterThe 20th anniversary bottling of Testamatta made, from the 2019 vintage, in brand new winemaking facilities in Florence. This just shines from the moment it’s poured. Layered and complex this is a gem of a wine filled with cherry, raspberry, damson and caramel notes alongside a savoury edge that makes it so moreish. Tannins that support but don't overwhelm give a nice overall weight to the palate while the flavous linger on the long finish. Made from old vines on stony soils on the Tuscan hilltops. Grapes are selected and sourced from the best five vineyards, which are divided into parcels and harvested up to eight times. Fermentation is in open-top barriques for the smaller parcels and in barrels or stainless steel for the larger ones without any temperature controls. Maceration for 7-10 days then moved into old barriques for 20 months.
Drinking Window: 2024 - 2045
Reviewer Name: Georgina Hindle
Review Date: 20th July 2021
96 Jane Anson20 year anniversary vintage at this brilliant 58ha estate, and it’s hard not to love the complexity and the sense of controlled power. Raspberry, black cherry, butterscotch, truffle, scorched earth and slate, cleverly put together with clear confidence. So much happens after the wine has left your mouth - it has a whole second act where much of the nuance appears. It’s the detail that sets Testamatta apart - with the team going through the vineyard up to 8 times to ensure picking when ripe - from estate-owned plots across Tuscany where the vines range from 5 years old up to 80 years old from 400m to 600m altitude. Natural yeasts, six manual punch downs per day, 10 days maceration maximum and barrel ageing with no new oak.
Review Date: 9th September 2021
94 Wine AdvocateA 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.
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2042
Reviewer Name: Monica Larner
Review Date: 24th August 2021
- Producer
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About Bibi Graetz
Born into a family of prodigious artists in the gorgeous region of Tuscany in central Italy, Bibi Graetz experienced a phenomenon well-traversed by a number of the world’s greatest vignerons – he fell in love with the terroir and vines of his homeland.
Having grown up on the hill of Fiesole, overlooking Florence, Graetz felt the irresistible pull to found his eponymous winery in 2000 in this very area. Not content with such a commitment to Tuscany, the artist even built and moved his family to the new winery, called Aurora, situated in the main square of Fiesole.
Viniculture
Graetz found himself particularly fascinated by old vines – and as such has assembled one of the largest holdings of old vineyard plots in the entire region. An impressive feat in a mere 20 years given the head start rival Super Tuscans have. The focus on ancient aspects of Italian winemaking has led the rebellious winemaker to shun both traditionalist Chianti constraints, as well as the established Super Tuscan behemoths stridently pursuing Bordeaux blends.
Bibi Graetz masterfully combines aspects of both schools of thought – proudly championing the traditional varietals of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino, whilst utilising artisanal techniques such as spontaneous fermentation, manual punching-down and open-top barriques.
A maverick figure on the Super Tuscan scene, Colore is the flagship wine of this enigmatic winery. Colore is a pure expression of Tuscany, with traditional varieties blended in glorious harmony. Sangiovese provides structure and breath-taking power, Colorino carries pure fruits and fine tannins whilst Canaiolo is the mineral backbone. Sourced from three vineyards in Lamole, Siena and Vincigliata, a handful of the finest barrels representing a fraction of the entire harvest are selected to become Colore. This is unbelievably rare, with only 225 cases produced.
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