Bibi Graetz - Testamatta - Toscana IGT 2019

Anthocyanes

93 / 100

byYohan Castaingthe10/4/2021

Un bouquet vif et élégant, très frais et vibrant, des notes de fruits noirs bien murs, d'herbe, de menthol et de réglisse. Bouche juteuse, fraiche, très belle acidité avec de la profondeur et du mouvement. Une belle bouteille actuellement sur l'allonge et qui vieillira admirablement. De beaux tanins également. Pour dans 10 ans.

Jane Anson

96 / 100

byJane Ansonthe9/3/2021

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 - fromt estate-owned plots accross 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.

Jancis Robinson

16 / 20

byJancis Robinsonthe9/2/2021

16+
100% Sangiovese. This vintage marks the twentieth for Bibi Graetz.
Very polished on the nose, freshly pressed, ripe cherry that brings an almondy edge. The palate is medium weight and silky, bringing more of the pressed-fruit tones. There is a real suggestion of ripe red-fruit skins here, the refined tannic structure adding to this perception. Just a little too much heat on the back end. (TP)

Wine Advocate

94 / 100

byMonica Larnerthe8/24/2021

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.

Decanter.com

96 / 100

byGeorgina Hindlethe7/20/2021

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.

Jamessuckling.com

97 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe10/21/2020

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.