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2016 Bibi Graetz/Testamatta Testamatta

Not Currently In Auction

Latest Sale Price

March 17, 2024 - $72

Estimate

RATINGS

98James Suckling

A very beautiful and thoughtful Testamatta with aromas of earth, terra cotta, black tea, and lavender. Full-bodied, very layered and extremely polished with superb, soft tannins. Racy and very long. Muscular and formed but very, very balanced. Gorgeous richness and depth. Shows balance and wonder.

96The Wine Advocate

There is a seductively wild side to the wine that comes forth with chiseled intensity. Dark fruit, spice, tar, licorice and toasted spice make for a beautifully elegant bouquet. The mouthfeel remains mid-weight in approach, with polished tannins...

92Wine Spectator

A focused, linear style...features cherry, iron, earth and tobacco flavors, with a hint of wild scrub in the aroma, all matched to a firm, well-integrated structure...long and detailed.

18Jancis Robinson

A beautiful nose, a purity of red fruits and tea leaf. The fruit is extremely well extracted – soft and sublimely fine tannins. This feels like a wine that is brimming with vivacity and life – red fruits that have such elegance and refinement.

REGION

Italy, Tuscany

Tuscany, or Toscana in Italian, is Italy’s best-known wine region and its most diverse. Historically Sangiovese was the primary grape grown in Tuscany and Chianti was considered the purest expression of Sangiovese. Sangiovese and its many clones are still important, and they are the grapes used for the Tuscan appellations of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Chianti, Chianti Classico and Carmignano. But in the last 50 years innovative producers, many of them in southwestern Tuscany in the area called Maremma, have also planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. The tradition defying producers have blended those varietals with Sangiovese to produce dazzling wines that do not conform to Italy’s appellation regulations. Such wines are called Super Tuscans and cannot be labeled with either of Italy’s highest level quality designations, which are in order of status Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantia, (DOCG), and Denominazione di Origine Controllata, (DOC). (This has not at all hindered the demand for Super Tuscans, some of which are consistently among the world’s most admired and well-reviewed wines.) Tuscany has six DOCG appellations and thirty-four DOCs. Though famous for its red wines, Tuscany also produces whites made primarily from Trebbiano and Vernaccia. There are also many Tuscan Indicazione Geographica Tipica (IGT) wines that are often an innovative blend of traditional and non-traditional grapes. This relatively new appellation status was started in 1992 as an attempt to give an official classification to Italy’s many newer blends that do fit the strict requirements of DOC and DOCG classifications. IGT wines may use the name of the region and varietal on their label or in their name.