2018 Testamatta, Bibi Graetz, Tuscany, Italy

Red • Dry • Full Bodied • Sangiovese

Code: 20180600750008214515

Description

Finely textured, with a nuanced perfume that fills the glass and takes you to the intense underbrush of Tuscany. Succulent and yet savoury, this has a lilting freshness that is overlaid with ripe berry fruits, sage and white pepper spice, and clear minerality in terms of its scraping texture that makes your mouth water on the finish. Feels light and sculpted and yet has an intensity that skewers you to the spot. This is a great wine, with scope and imagination that doesn't want to let you go. Genuinely stands out among the wines of this tasting, and these are a fine array of wines. As with Colore, Bibi Graetz selects only old vines, the youngest 50 years old from five different vineyard sites across Tuscany, all farmed organically. Fermentations in open 225l barrels with natural yeasts and manual punch downs.
100/100, Stephen Brook, Decanter

Colour

Red
Sweetness

Dry
Vintage

2018
Alcohol

13.5%
Grape

Sangiovese
Body

Full Bodied
Producer

Bibi Graetz

Critics reviews

James Suckling

97/100

Very subtle aromas of cherries, bark, black truffles and flowers. Hints of crushed stones. It’s full-bodied, yet very tight and solid with a very tight, minerally structure. Very long and intense. Racy and bright at the end. Powerful, orange-peel and citrus-fruit undertones. Salty and minerally. This needs time to develop in the bottle. Extremely structured. A wine not to touch until after 2023.

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (July 2020)

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I loved this when first tasting it in bottle, and it is totally living up to my expectations. The clarity of flavour and the sense of energy ensures it just springs out of the glass, ready to please and without the slightest hint of a dip through the mid palate. Sangiovese signature comes across in raspberry, red cherry, rose petals, tobacco, freshly cured leather, great persistency through the palate, showing balance and finesse. The tannins are fine and silky but not afraid to ask for engagement and time from those of us lucky enough to be tasting it. Fermented with natural yeasts, aged in oak casks and neutral barrels for 20 months.

Drink 2025 to 2038.

Jane Anson MW

100/100

Jane Anson MW, JaneAnson.com (March 2022)

Kerin Okeefe

93/100

With a few swirls of the glass, this releases alluring scents of fragrant blue flower, wild berry, pipe tobacco and menthol. Made with old vines of Sangiovese sourced from five top estate vineyards, the vibrant, elegant palate features juicy raspberry, Morello cherry, licorice and toasted nut alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. It's still young and primary, with bright acidity. It needs a few more years to fully develop and will still offer years of pleasure.

Kerin Okeefe, KerinOKeefe.com (February 2021)

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With a few swirls of the glass, this releases alluring scents of fragrant blue flower, wild berry, pipe tobacco and menthol. Made with old vines of Sangiovese sourced from five top estate vineyards, the vibrant, elegant palate features juicy raspberry, Morello cherry, licorice and toasted nut alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. It’s still young and primary, with bright acidity. It needs a few more years to fully develop and will still offer years of pleasure.

Monica Larner

92/100

The Bibi Graetz 2018 Testamatta is a wine that was affected by outside factors. For one, it was in barrel during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and Bibi says he spent six months fussing over this production. Secondly, this vintage directly followed 2017, which saw heat stress in the vineyards, with some of that hardship spilling over to this wine. It shows good fruit with chalky tannins, but you don't get the same depth or detail as in other vintages.

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (October 2025)

Stephen Brook

93/100

The 2018 vintage resulted in elegant but relatively light wines, and cool nights kept them fresh. The subdued red fruit nose has finesse and poise, while the attack is lively and relatively forward. This is no blockbuster but it shows fine acidity and concentration. It may lack some complexity now but it's still youthful. Long.

Stephen Brook, Decanter.com (March 2022)