Bibi Graetz Colore 2020 (OWC 3)

Description

By James Suckling in 2020 (JS99)

This is so perfumed and seductive, with blackberries, cherries, dried flowers and perfume. It’s full-bodied and tight with very fine tannins. Really structured and long. Superb tannin texture. So fine, yet so powerful. This is an incredible combination of fruit and structure. Old-vine magic. Drink after 2026.

By Decanter in 2021 (D98)

The ‘dream’ in Italian, this is from very old, high-altitude vineyards on stony soils mixed with sand and stone. This is one of the wines of the tasting, a real showstopper that captures your interest and holds it all the way. Red cherries and strawberries dominate the nose with softly-spiced liquorice touches. But it’s the texture that’s so captivating, gripping straight away and holding you there, but in a soft and gentle way. Bright acidity comes in keeping things fresh and welcoming while the structure and length give a lovely roundness. A real success. Grapes for Colore are sourced from three vineyards, with each harvested up to eight times. After the first selection in the vineyards, a second selection occurs at the winery before destemming where grapes are softly pressed and placed in open-top barriques, keeping each plot and parcel separate from the others. The fermentation is conducted naturally by indigenous yeasts without temperature control lasting up to two weeks, with one extra week of maceration on the skins. After the fermentation the wine is moved into new barriques, where the malolactic fermentation happens. Each parcel is aged separately for almost 20 months before the final blend is decided.

By Jane Anson in 2022 (JA98)

Colore comes from the oldest vineyards of Sangiovese that range up to 135 years, and there is a gentle, unforced complexity to this wine that is deliciously moreish. Expect raspberries, black cherries, rosemary, liquorice, the soft floral aromatics of late-afternoon roses, caressing and silky and giving so much pleasure but not expecting too much of you. You can drink this now with a carafe but it will age, because there is acidity and grip. A lovelt wine to slow down to. Bibi Graetz’s 20th anniversary as a winemaker, proving again why he is such a compelling figure in Tuscany.