2018 Testamatta Bianco

This wine is really quite terrific, and with 6,500 bottles made, it is easier to find (and more affordable) than Bibi Graetz's new single-vineyard expression of Ansonica, Colore Bianco. The 2018 Testamatta Bianco Isola del Giglio sees fruit blended from three bigger vineyard sites on Giglio Island and some smaller ones as well (Vigneto del Corvo, Scopeto, Ulivello, Radice and Le Grotte). In contrast to the Colore Bianco that revealed more consistency, the two bottles I sampled of this wine (one opened in the morning and one in the afternoon) showed very different results between them. The morning bottle was more fleshy and ample, while the just-opened bottle offered very linear notes of citrus, apple and white peach. Some of the grapes are harvested early, in order to maintain that total acidity, and used as a blending agent with the rest of the wine. Green harvesting is not practiced here, as each vine is left on its own to ripen. Bibi Graetz tells me that the 2018 vintage was much easier and gave more satisfaction compared to the difficult 2017 growing season. Of course, like any white wine from the Tuscan Coast, you get a distinctive layer of sea salt on the close—in this case, mixed in with some freshly milled white pepper.