Wine Advisor
Bibi Graetz, Testamatta 2019
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Description
"Testamatta” – “crazy-head” in Italian - is the best word to describe Bibi Graetz: a positive, creative and passionate person. Testamatta wine expresses the purity, minerality and transparency of Sangiovese from old vines on the top of the hills characterized by soils rich of stones. A Supertuscan made with 100% Sangiovese, result of the combination of tradition and creativity.
“Elegance, this is the word that describes Testamatta 2019. The 20th Anniversary of Testamatta is a real milestone, the peak of quality that I was searching in my Sangiovese since the first vintage in 2000. Testamatta 2019 is perfectly balanced with deep layers which shown an incredible complexity." -- Bibi Graetz The season has been very stable with the right quantity of heat and rain in all the season. The cold and dry winter and the average quantity of rain in the spring prevented the proliferation of illnesses. The correct growing of the plants was supported by the lowering of the minimum temperature in the preharvest period, this led to a slow and complete maturation and to an incredible aromatic expression. This smoothness of the climate provided grapes of outstanding quality. The harvest started on September 21th and ended the 8th of October.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
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.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The Bibi Graetz 2019 Testamatta is a little closed and shy. This is one of the first vintages in which Bibi did not do green harvest, a practice he has since avoided because he believes the vines find ideal balance when left alone. In fact, yields in 2017 were lower because of the heat, but they rebounded in 2019, with 20% more production. This wine has red fruits, currants and dusty mineral sensation to close.
Reviewed by: 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.
About the Producer
Bibi Graetz is one of the best wine producers in Tuscany, which has become famous for its Soffocone di Vincigliata, Colore, Testamatta Rosso and Bianco wines. Its grapes come from vines of about 80 years of age, the autochthonous: Sangiovese, Colorino and Cannaiolo. The Bibi Graetz estate is located in Vincigliata, a small village behind the Fiesole hill.
