Bibi Graetz, Testamatta Rossa, Toscana 2018

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.

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.

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.

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.