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. Try in 2020.

It would have taken a high degree of incompetence to produce a poor wine in 2016, and Testamatta is a triumph. The nose is lean but elegant, with wafting aromas of cherries, red fruits and a floral tone. Fresh and intense, it has polished tannins and lifted acidity that gives great persistence; a mouthwatering character that's highly seductive.

Just as with the 2015, this was an excellent growing season - and once again we see the chage in how Bibi chooses to handle these concentrated, ripe years. This is just singing with the finesse and generosity of Sangiovese. Tobacco, sweet red cherry, smoked tea, rosemary, raspberry puree, salinity, mouthwatering and so easy to drink even at six years old. Slow ripening, harvest from September 22 to Octoer 29. Fermented with natural yeasts, aged in oak casks and neutral barrels for 20 months.

This wine will be released in March 2019. The 2016 Testamatta represents a blend of fruit from old vines spread across the various vineyard holdings farmed by Bibi Graetz in both the Siena and Firenze provinces of Tuscany. These holdings include plots in Vincigliata (home base to Bibi Graetz and his family just outside of Florence), Lamole, Londa, Montefili and Siena. Many of the vines used here are 80 years old or more, and each site represents a cultural and enological patrimony that was specifically selected for its individual character or uniqueness. There is an unescapable metaphor in the many primary colors that blend or bleed into each other to form a single piece of art that is depicted on the front label of this handsome bottle. Testamatta reaches impeccable harmony in similar fashion. I tasted this wine on three separate occasions and was blown away each time. 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 and a tightly knit texture that should relax and grow in volume as the wine evolves in the bottle. Some 60,000 bottles were made.- ML

A focused, linear style, this red features cherry, iron, earth and tobacco flavors, with a hint of wild scrub in the aroma, all matched to a firm, well-integrated structure. Tightens up on the finish, remaining long and detailed. Drink now through 2024. 7,500 cases made, 1,850 cases imported. — BS