Bibi Graetz Toscana Testamatta 2019 (1.5L)

97 JS / 96 JA / 96 DE / 96 FS / 94 WA / 16+ JR

#60 James Suckling's Top 100 Italian Wines of 2021

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. - James Suckling .com

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. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

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. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

Dark ruby, purple reflections, subtle edge brightening. Fine red berry nuances, a hint of cherry, fresh orange zest, delicate strawberry notes, multi-layered bouquet. Medium-bodied, fresh and balanced, fine, ripe tannins, mineral touch on the finish, very balanced, a refined accompaniment to food.-Peter Moser, Falstaff

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. - Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

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. - JancisRobinson .com