Bibi Graetz is among the most original and critically celebrated figures in contemporary Tuscan wine, an artist by training whose first wine, the 2000 Testamatta, announced the arrival of one of Italian wine’s most distinctive and unconventional producers. Born in Florence of Norwegian descent and raised in the medieval Castello di Vincigliata near Fiesole, Graetz came to winemaking without formal training, bringing instead an artist’s attention to detail, an obsessive focus on old vine material and a willingness to seek out and farm overlooked parcels of indigenous Tuscan varieties across a wide range of sites and sub-appellations.

Testamatta, whose name translates as “Crazy Head”, is a 100% Sangiovese wine produced from old vine parcels scattered across Tuscany’s hillside sites, including holdings in Vincigliata, Lamole, Londa and the Siena province. The vines used are typically 80 years old or more, planted on galestro and alberese soils that produce naturally low yields of exceptional concentration. The winemaking approach is essentially reductive and minimalist: old barrels dating back to 2003, very low new wood percentages, and bottling without filtration. The result is a Sangiovese of unusual transparency and site character, quite different from the more polished, internationally oriented Sangiovese-based wines produced elsewhere in Tuscany.

Testamatta has achieved consistent scores in the 94 to 98 point range from leading approved critics across successive vintages: the 2020 earned 97 from Decanter and 95 from Wine Advocate; the 2021 earned 98 from James Suckling and 96 from Wine Advocate. As a multi-vintage case, the specific vintage composition should be confirmed with the supplier. All recent Testamatta releases are considered among the finest expressions of old-vine Sangiovese in Italy and are collected by enthusiasts across Europe, Asia and the United States who value authenticity, artistic individuality and age-worthy structure in Tuscan red wine.

Deep garnet with a distinctive and complex nose of wild cherry, sour red fruits, orange peel, dried herbs, graphite, violet and an earthy mineral depth from the old vine galestro soils. The palate is medium to full-bodied with vibrant natural acidity, fine-grained tannins and an exceptionally long finish of great aromatic persistence. Best approached with three to ten years of cellaring depending on vintage.