#40 TOP 100 WINES OF ITALY, 2022. The subtlety and perfumed nature of this wine is enchanting, offering flowers, orange peel and cherries. Wonderful ripe strawberries, too. Full-bodied, but not over the top, with tannins that are polished and run the length of the wine. It’s tight, but gives you every indication of a terrific wine. You want to drink it now, and you probably should do, because it’s so alluring. Yet it will age beautifully as well. Drink or hold.
Bibi Graetz tells me the 2020 Colore is his favorite vintage of Colore, and although I agree that this wine is stunning, I find the tannins a little more open and granular compared to the tightly etched 2021 vintage that I personally prefer. That wine, to me, shows more length and overall tension. You get hints of that here too, but the overall delivery is linked to rounder fruit flavors of cassis, red and black currants and spice. Sangiovese from the Olmo vineyard is introduced this year and blended with fruit from Lamole, from 70-year-old plants in Bagno a Ripoli and Vincigliata near Fiesole. In 2020, Colore emerged as the higher-priced wine compared to Testamatta.
TWI
96pts
The Wine Independent
The 2020 Bibi Graetz Colore has beautiful, appetising aromas of savory wild herbs, wild-flowers and Mediterranean shrub with a light peppery note and on standing there is an aroma of strawberries warmed in the sun. The palate is round and soft, then mouth-wateringly fresh, then it finishes with savory, salty tannins. What I love is that the flavours are clearly delineated and remind me of Sangiovese and the Tuscan landscape with bitter cherry, light sea salt, iron tonic and wild herb notes. The flavors are quite fragile but persistent, the texture is fine and silky and there is a lot of savory, mineral tension in this wine.
Colore 2020 is full of fragrant spices and balsamic red and black cherries, with a touch of forest undergrowth. Vertical, sapid red fruits and some darker fruits in the background are accompanied by touches of cream, coffee and chocolate. The cushioned finish is salty and peppery, with a liquorice note. Tight and youthful, it arguably lacks a bit of character compared to 2021, tasted in the same lineup, but remains a deliciously vibrant Sangiovese.
The 2020 Colore is spiced and pure, with vibrant ripe cherry, cinnamon, and cedar. There is elegance and ripeness within its medium frame, revealing notes of wild raspberry, dried herbs, and orange zest. There is another level of refinement from the Testamatta that will continue to improve over the coming 15-20 years.
The 2020 Colore is pleasantly unexpected and is a total feminine beauty. When I anticipate power, it delivers grace with a stunning bouquet of freshly cut roses, blood orange, wild strawberries and sweet smoke. It's deeply textural, yet not heavy, feeling like crushed velvet gently draped across the palate, leaving mineral-tinged blackberries and currants in its wake. This finishes on a note of elegance with fine-grained tannins without slowing its momentum as spice notes slowly fade. The Colore is all old-vine (70 years or older) Sangiovese from vineyards Lamole, Vincigliata, Olmo and Siena.
Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, seaweed and soy sauce mingle with the scent of freshly paved road, gun flint and pencil on the nose of this wine. It offers a very cherry palate, with wet stone, white pepper, rose petal and chocolate-covered orange slice. A bright and lively wine, it balances structure with playfulness, and delivers fruit that is mouthfilling without turning velvety.
This red reveals a mix of earth, cherry and wild herb flavors that ride a bright, fleshy profile. Features a juicy midpalate, with vibrant structure and well-integrated tannins. The finish firms up, where cherry and spice notes linger. Sangiovese. Best from 2024 through 2035. 200 cases made.
Winery Notes
Colore is the highest expression of Bibi Graetz dream. The drive of this wine is to create a pure excellence of Tuscany, a wine made with traditional Tuscan grapes sourced from some of the oldest and rarest vineyards of the region. Sangiovese represent the structure and the power of the wine, Colorino fruits and velvety tannins, Canaiolo minerality and intensity. On the best few barrels of the whole production will become Colore.