The Fiesole vigneron celebrates twenty years of production

Bibi Graetz celebrates with the 2019 vintage of Colore and Testamatta

In the new winery in the historic centre of Fiesole, with the barrique cellar overlooking a belvedere overlooking Florence, Bibi Graetz, vigneron-artist, celebrates 20 years in the world of wine this year with the 2019 vintages of his cult wines Colore and Testamatta. Both are the ultimate expression of his dream, born in a 2-hectare boutique vineyard nestled in the hills of Fiesole. To this have been added, over the years, other vineyards among the oldest and rarest in the region. A Tuscan excellence.

ColoreTestamatta

Sangiovese provides the structure and power of Colore, where Colorino expresses the fruit and velvety tannins, Canaiolo the minerality and intensity. Only the few best barrels of the entire production can become Colore. Bibi has the determination and stubbornness of Burgundian vignerons, typical of those who have clear ideas and know exactly what they want to achieve. His Israeli father, an artist of international renown, and his Norwegian mother, the daughter of artists, Bibi, who also came from an artistic background, decided in 2000 to devote himself to the family vineyard in Vincigliata, a path made up of pure passion. This vertical tasting was a synthesis of Bibi Graetz's first 20 years spent in the vineyard and cellar and the revelation that even the first vintages retain the extraordinary qualities of freshness and great longevity that earned him his first important awards.

Bibi Graetz in his wine cellar in Fiesole

At the beginning he made his first experiments and relied on the advice of a dear friend, a great expert in the vineyard and the cellar. Right from the start, he read the vine and the wine according to his canons as an artist, his vitality, and a pinch of recklessness characteristic of the unusual character. "I simply said to my oenologist friend: I want to make the most beautiful wine in the world. Yes, not the best wine, but the most beautiful. Because deep down Bibi already knew that this was his path. And he succeeds. In the first year, at the first harvest, his wine was listed among the best in Italy by the most prestigious wine guides. At the second harvest, in 2001, he was described as the best red wine in the world at the Vinexpo in Bordeaux.

The terrace of Bibi Graetz's wine cellar in the historic centre of Fiesole

After all, making wine is an art too... "Yes, wine is not just about agriculture,' Bibi says. It is aesthetics, aromas, flavours, colours. It offers us the possibility of expressing concepts, of adapting nature to our goals and even our dreams. And so it is creativity, communication. Wine is something that, as it evolves, can last through the years. It is civilisation and it is history.

COLORE
Colore's grapes come from 3 vineyards: Lamole, Vincigliata and Siena. Sangiovese provides its structure and power, while Colorino expresses its fruit and velvety tannins, and Canaiolo its minerality and intensity. Only the few best barrels of the entire production can become Color.

Colore


TESTAMATTA
A red wine of great finesse and elegance made from only Sangiovese grapes from 5 vineyards: Vincigliata, Londa, Lamole, Montefili and Siena. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately. The 2019 vintage was very balanced, the pre-harvest temperatures allowed for a slow and complete ripening of the grapes and an incredible aromatic potential.

Testamatta