Bibi Graetz, Testamatta Rossa, Toscana 2023

A wild nose, savoury and darkly fruited. Some earthy scents - soy, iodine and tobacco. So seductively pure and delicious. Easy to drink with a clarity and concentration that is perfectly balanced. Sumptuous, filling and deep with fleshy tannins that give such excellent width and scope to the wine but keeping a direct core from start to finish. Orange rind, dried herbs, pumice stone and cumin. Deliciously lifted and effortless but charming and smiley too. I could drink this all day. What a wonderful wine. Joyous and moreish with incredible sapidity and mouthwatering acidity. What more could you want?! Lovely minerality on the finish too, salty stones, cola and chalk. Effortless.

Seductive aromas of flowers, cherries, lemon blossoms and roses. Medium-bodied, crunchy and polished, with firm, silky, ultra-fine tannins. It’s all about structure with finesse. Such energy and tension. Complex and beautiful in the finish. A blend of sangiovese from Olmo and Lamole in Chianti Classico. Give this three or four years to come around.

What's not to love about this wine? Fragrant, gripping, welcoming, mouthwatering, with rose petals and raspberries that expand through the palate, with touches of incense, sage, white pepper, totally delicious and a perfect example of what joy Sangiovese can bring. Bibi Graetz owner and winemaker, this is a fabulous vintage of Testamatta. Tasted twice.

The 2023 Rosso Testamatta is tightly coiled in its youthful state. Coaxing reveals layers of dried strawberry complicated by autumnal spices, worn leather and dusty rose. It washes across the palate with velvety textures guided by racy acidity, coming across as weighty yet fresh and lively as ripe red and black fruits saturate the senses. The 2023 finishes dramatically long and intense, with a tart berry resonance and a saturation of fine tannins. The balance here is remarkable, especially for the vintage. I expect the 2023 to have a long and glorious evolution in bottle.

Bibi Graetz concluded this vintage with less collateral damage than many other vintners in Tuscany, who saw big drops in yields because of rain and mildew. He says he only lost 10% of his fruit. The 2023 Testamatta is Sangiovese with a tiny part of whole-cluster fruit. The wine is a little shy and closed on first examination, but it does reveal red and purple fruits with cassis and plum. It shows good freshness and fine tannins. You need to give it more time to flesh out with bottle age.