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Technical Details
Blend | Sangiovese |
Winemaker | Bibi Graetz |
Country | Italy |
Region | Tuscany |
Appellation | Tuscany |
Farming Method | Organic Farming |
Aging/Cooperage | 18 months in oak barrels |
Alcohol | 13.5 |
Bibi Graetz Testamatta Tocana IGT 2018 (Magnum 1.5L)
Sangiovese Blends | Italy
$189.95 - 1.5L
Over the years, we’ve been lucky to sell a bit of Testamatta, but magnums are a first, especially at this fine price. I’m guessing most of you savvy oenophiles need no introduction to Bibi’s wines, but there's a huge raft of scores and info below if you need a refresher! PERFECTION in magnums...we’re just stunned!
100% sangiovese, of course, as always, 50+ year old vines, made at his medieval castle, Castello di Vincigliata overlooking Florence. Bibi is an icon, self-taught and one of the early “cult” winemakers in Tuscany. He has a reputation of being Italy’s most talented and interesting winemakers. The labels are all personally drawn by Bibi Graetz, with the help from his daughter who both come from a long line of talented visual artists. Bibi is able to combine both of his passions into an amazing masterpiece. The wine in this vintage is five stars with wine publications predicting that this vintage will fall between the lavish 2015s and extravagant 2016s. Don't miss
PAIRING IDEAS: Try something more traditionally Florentine. Did you know they do crepes in Tuscany? Yup – check this out – crespelle alla Fiorentina. Hard to go wrong with ricotta and bechamel, are we right? Here’s a recipe.
MUSIC SUGGESTIONS: Checked out the new Eddie Vedder album yet? "Earthling" is growing on us, check it out. The opening track "Invincible" is a great vibe for some world-class sangiovese!
Technical Details
Blend | Sangiovese |
Winemaker | Bibi Graetz |
Country | Italy |
Region | Tuscany |
Appellation | Tuscany |
Farming Method | Organic Farming |
Aging/Cooperage | 18 months in oak barrels |
Alcohol | 13.5% |
About The Producer
Reviews
Decanter
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. Drinking Window 2024 - 2045.
James Suckling
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.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Testamatta shows elegant Sangiovese purity and transparency, starting with delicate wild berry and blueberry tones and finishing long with pretty accents of crushed limestone and a touch of campfire ash. In the glass, the wine is radiant and vivid with a luminous ruby or garnet color. Oak use is reduced to a bare minimum, with barrels that are up to their 16th year of use. "The older they are, the better," Bibi explains. As the wine opens in the glass, it presents pretty lilac and violet. This wine represents a blend of fruit from various sites (all with old vines that are farmed organically) across the region of Tuscany. The northern-most sites close to Florence tend to add the floral notes that are so characteristic of this cool vintage (which saw a bit more rain than average and extra work in the vineyards to kept these vines healthy). I visited the vineyards with Bibi in 2018 and remember how beautiful the grapes appeared on the vines. Much of the fruit used here comes from the Vigna del Cancello in Casciano del Murlo, which is midway between Siena and Montalcino. These southern sites give the wine its backbone and tannins. Bibi Graetz tells me that he struggled to create the blend for this 60,000-bottle release. He decided on a final blend, only to change his mind and re-blend two and a half months later. His second stab was specifically aimed at capturing finesse and softening the wine's tannic imprint. Indeed, the wine ultimately offers more in length (with fresh fruit flavors and bright acidity) than it does in power or mid-palate. The finish is silky, long and very fine.
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