Bibi Graetz is one of Tuscany’s great mavericks and for nearly two decades has been concentrating on making some of the most distinctive and exciting wines in the region. After the initial Supertuscan revolution in the 60s and 70s with Sassicaia and Tignanello, Bibi leads another wave of pioneers. Specialising in old vine Sangiovese, his vineyards, dotted about Chianti Classico, are populated by gnarled fifty-eighty year old vines, which provide great intensity and wisdom to his wines. The diverse blend of terroirs, and soil types further add to the kaleidoscope of complex characters his wines exude.
“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.” 97 pts, James Suckling
“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.” 94 pts, Monica Larner, WA