2004 Testamatta
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Enticing smoky notes, edges of tar, still full bodied at 16 years old, with cassis, prune, cigar and dried rose petals. The tannins are a touch drying through the finish but there is persistency and a sappy salinity that is utterly charming. A real milestone vintage that belongs in the cellar of any collector of this wine, as this was the year that Bibi began doing the blend himself, without an external consultant, so moving from the role of owner (and viticulturalist, as he had always been) to winemaker in the truest sense. It is not showing the full expression of what Testamatta would become a few years later, and the oak remains a touch intrusive dominant, but it sets out the building blocks. A late harvest year that began 15 days later than usual.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux
More reviews and scores
The 2004 Testamatta (85% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo), Graetz's top red, presents gorgeous aromatics and deeply expressive layers of sweet dark fruit in a highly individualistic display of elegance, with superb length and fine tannins on the finish. The new oak tannins are still very much present and this wine is in need of some bottle age, but it has all the ingredients of a truly special wine.
This is a superb set of releases and I can’t recommend the wines highly enough. The 2004 Testamatta (85% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo), Graetz’s top red, presents gorgeous aromatics and deeply expressive layers of sweet dark fruit in a highly individualistic display of elegance, with superb length and fine tannins on the finish. The new oak tannins are still very much present and this wine is in need of some bottle age, but it has all the ingredients of a truly special wine. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2022. Importer: Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300
About the producer
Based just outside Florence, Bibi Graetz is something of a maverick in the Tuscan wine scene. Working with old vineyards of indigenous grapes around Chianti, he produces intense wines classified as IGT Toscana; not fitting neatly in either the Super Tuscan or Chianti camp.