2023 Bibi Graetz, Testamatta Rossa, Toscana

2023 was ‘a very complicated vintage’, according to Bibi Graetz [...]. Despite the issues, he claims it's ‘probably the best Testamatta we have made’ – and I wholeheartedly agree. Slatey, stony scents mingle with fragrant wild strawberry, raspberry and orange peel. It's incredibly fresh and precise in the mouth, offering vibrating dark cherry and red berry fruits at the core surrounded by flecks of salt and herbs , then a stunning, extended finish of blood orange, cherry and lip-smacking sapidity. Wow!

- James Button, Decanter (2025)

A wild nose, savoury and darkly fruited. Some earthy scents - soy, iodine and tobacco. So seductively pure and delicious. Easy to drink with a clarity and concentration that is perfectly balanced. Sumptuous, filling and deep with fleshy tannins that give such excellent width and scope to the wine but keeping a direct core from start to finish. Orange rind, dried herbs, pumice stone and cumin. Deliciously lifted and effortless but charming and smiley too. I could drink this all day. What a wonderful wine. Joyous and moreish with incredible sapidity and mouthwatering acidity. What more could you want?! Lovely minerality on the finish too, salty stones, cola and chalk. Effortless.

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Bibi Graetz concluded this vintage with less collateral damage than many other vintners in Tuscany, who saw big drops in yields because of rain and mildew. He says he only lost 10% of his fruit. The 2023 Testamatta is Sangiovese with a tiny part of whole-cluster fruit. The wine is a little shy and closed on first examination, but it does reveal red and purple fruits with cassis and plum. It shows good freshness and fine tannins. You need to give it more time to flesh out with bottle age.

100% Sangiovese. Cooler on average than 2022 but with higher heat peaks. Thanks to the elevation of the vineyards there were no problems with heat stress, and production ‘was good in both qualitative and quantitative terms.’ Harvest 15 September. Indigenous-yeast fermentation in open-top 225-litre barriques for the smaller parcels of the vineyards, and in stainless-steel tanks for the larger plots. Aged for 18 months in used barriques and 50-hl casks. Transparent cherry red – a bit deeper-coloured than Colore 2023. Much more intense nose and fruit, though arguably no more fun. A longer-term prospect? Drying finish and slightly burnt sensation. (JR)

Isola del Giglio. 100% Ansonica. Pale coppery orange. Gorgeous nose of thyme, orange, hay and just a pinch of oak and salty liquorice. Fluid salted-orange and quince palate with a fine tannic tail on a finish with a full spread. (WS)