2023 Bibi Graetz, Testamatta, IGT Toscana Rosso, Tuscany, Italy.
The deep garnet 2023 Testamatta by Bibi Graetz is an outstanding and powerful expression of Sangiovese and a true terroir wine with a sense core of dark berry, plum, strawberry and kirsch fruit leading the way on the full bodied and polished palate that has chocolatey fine tannins and delicate floral notes, making for a seriously delicious wine. Rich and complex, this vintage is rewarding in the mouth, it feels similar to a Brunello in presence, but is more supple, or lush, and pleasing in its youthful form, adding anise, wild sage, minty herb, soft earthy tones, savory tobacco leaf and sweet cedary wood notes to the impressive core of vinous fruit. It’s said Bibi Graetz is thought of as a crazy artist, who seriously studied and pursued painting, and most were skeptical at first of his adventure into premium wine production, but this Testamatta wine proved them wrong and has become the winery’s signature offering, it is a pure 100% Sangiovese from the hills around Florence, in the Firsole area, an ancient wine region, and it is now one of the cherished and sought after wines. The Sangiovese grapes, coming from various plots in the Graetz vineyards, were de-stemmed, gently pressed and then placed in used open-top 225L barriques for the smaller parcels, and in larger casks or stainless steel tanks for the larger plots. The fermentations here are natural and indigenous yeasts and the macerations are long, after the fermentation process, the wines were moved into old oak barriques and aged for 18 months. All of the winemaking is to capture the sense of place and transparency and allow for the authentic flavors to shine through. This wine, which I tasted twice recently, is certainly best with a hearty and meaty meal and potentially will get better in the course of its life, I would not turn it down now, but it should improve with another 3 to 5 years of cellar time.
Growing up in an artistic environment, Bibi Graetz, he son of a famous Swiss-Israeli sculptor, Bibi Graetz has become one of the most treasured personalities in Tuscan winemaking, and while his parents were not Italian, he was born and raised in the famous Castello di Vincigliata, near Florence, where his parents instilled in him, he notes, a deep love for art, a legacy that has always run through his life, gifted by his upbringing. Around the old castle, when he was growing up, the family owned two hectares of vineyards, which Bibi’s father cultivated to produce wine for family use only, he explains. Graetz, who I was originally told was Danish, has, I learned, Norwegian heritage, grew up having fun in those vines and in their primitive cellar, taking part in his dad’s harvest every year. Wine has always been part of his family, not as a business concern, but to transmit the culture and the tradition of the place where he was born and lived. He decided to found his own Winery in 2000, which is located in Vincigliata, making it his life project, bringing it full circle, and dedicating his life to making outstanding wines, which wines like this Testamatta is joyously prove of his commitment and success. The all Sangiovese Testamatta, which translates to crazy in the head, is an IGT Toscana Rosso, that comes from, in most years, five individual parcels in Vincigliata, Olmo, Londa, Lamole and Montefili that are picked by hand and handled separately and then crafted to make this serious and iconic Tuscan wine. I recently got another chance to taste through the complete lineup here and must say that this current set of wines is absolutely stunning, with this one again being the star here, even though I really always seem to like the Soffocone di Vincigliata just as well, and usually, as seen in my prior reviews it gets my attention. Also, interesting are the Ansonica whites, the Isola del Giglio Biancos by Graetz, from a tiny island off the coast of Tuscany! If you’ve not had the Graetz wines, you should definitely change that, and this wine is one you should search out.
($95 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive