2018 | Bibi Graetz | Colore

The nose has piercing aromas of cherries, red berries, flowers, fresh herbs, and some earthy notes. The structure is firm, with deep fruity layers. The wine will benefit from further ageing in the cellar.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: Compared to the Testamatta that proved more difficult during the blending phase, Bibi Graetz's 2018 Colore came together without a hitch, as he tells it. With this vintage, the Colore (with 9,000 bottles produced) has almost become a single-vineyard wine, since up to 90% of its fruit comes from old vines (these are majestic plants from 80 to 135 years old) in the high-altitude Lamole area where Bibi farms five hectares. The addition of Colorino to this Sangiovese-based wine has been reduced to a mere 5% in this vintage: "Just like a touch of lipstick," Bibi says. The Colorino grape adds noticeable lift and buoyancy in this vintage. Next to the Testamatta, you get more structure and backbone here, with deep and penetrating red berry fruit, ruby cherry, crushed aspirin, ferrous earth, crushed flowers and some of the fragrant steeping herbs used in Fernet-Branca. My only hesitation is that the wine takes long to yield on the bouquet, and I coaxed two bottles of Colore over two days before writing this note. As a result, I recommend pushing the drinking window forward by a few extra years to give the wine time to flesh out and open fully.

• James Suckling: This is the best ever with incredible depth and focus. The polished tannins display energy and balance. Everything is together. Blackberry, black cherry, mushroom and wet earth. Goes on for minutes. So approachable, but one for the cellar. Mostly from Lamole. Superb.

Producer Information

Bibi Graetz is a Tuscan wine producer based in Fiesole, in the hills northeast of Florence. The company is particularly known for its flagship wine Testamatta ('Crazy Head'), an IGT Toscana produced from Sangiovese. The estate took its modern shape in the mid 1990s when Bibi Graetz began taking an interest in the family vineyard, which until then was largely producing wine for family consumption. By 2001, Graetz had moved towards a more quality-oriented outlook, and began scouting out additional vineyard parcels in the area to rent. The estate now has approximately 30 hectares (75 acres) of vines that are divided into small, organically farmed plots. Graetz makes a range of IGT Toscana wines under the Testamatta name. This includes Colore, a blend of Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino, and Soffocone di Vincigliata, a single-vineyard wine that has gained notoriety for its name, which is local slang for a particular sex act. Several white wines are also made at the estate. These include Bugia, an IGT Toscana made from old vine Ansonica and fermented partly in barrique prior to six months of aging.

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