Bibi Graetz "Testamatta" Rosso Toscana 2015

Bibi Graetz "Testamatta" Rosso Toscana 2015

Ryan also brought from his cellar this Sangiovese produced by one of Tuscany’s most popular garagist cult winemakers, Bibi Graetz. With no formal training, Graetz burst on the wine scene in 2000 when he began crafting wines from his family’s ancestral castle, the Castello di Vincigliata, and its five acres of vines. Focusing on creating singular wines with their own identities separate from the traditional Brunello/Chianti DOCs or the Super Tuscans, Graetz has gained popularity making some of the most distinctive wines in Tuscany. 

He is now considered  “one of Italy's finest growers" accordingly to Antonio Galloni. This release of his flagship Testamatta 2105, 100% Sangiovese, was declared by James Suckling as “the best Testamatta ever made". He cited it the #5 Italian wine of the year (out of 3500 tasted), giving it 99 points, he said, "Tuscan artist/winemaker Bibi Graetz has helped redefine the modern super-Tuscan by crafting IGT wines of tremendous distinction in his home town of Fiesole."

This needed some tangy pasta as a proper pairing to showcase its character. A bit closed and tight, dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, black berry fruits gave way to notes of black tea, and what Suckling called 'bark, wet soil and leather' with silky smooth tannings on a luscious finish. 

RM 92 points.