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Tasting notes
Remarkably pretty, the 2022 Colore lifts from the glass with a bouquet of dusty violet and lavender tones complementing crushed blackberries as a mix of exotic spice and stone dust adds contrast. This is a more lifted and feminine interpretation, silken in feel with medium-bodied weight. Depths of mineral-infused wild berry fruits slowly add grippy traction toward the close. The 2022 finishes staining and long, with a blue and purple floral resonance. Hints of bitter blackberry tug at the cheeks.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
James Button, Decanter
More reviews and scores
Colore is the product of old vines in the Chianti Classico hills, in Lamole and Olmo. ‘Colore is my dream from the beginning of working with old vineyards...the vineyard in Lamole is beautiful, it's THE vineyard in Chianti Classico,’ says Bibi Graetz. 2022 was a hot year and so Bibi decided to only use fruit from his north-facing vineyards. ‘The hot year gives me this material, even if it is up in the mountains, north-facing; the fruit has this kick.’ Precisely sculpted and very intense, Colore 2022 is both pillowy and bright. Dark berries, spice and blood orange are gathered up by a lingering, zesty finish. It's more closed than Testamatta at the moment, but should reveal more of its beauty in time.
100% Sangiovese from high-elevation vineyards (Lamole, Vincigliata, Olmo and Siena) with >70-year-old bush vines and vines trained on Guyot, grown on galestro and clay soils. Spontaneous fermentation in open barriques for the small parcels and in 50-hl oak casks and stainless steel for the larger plots with three punchdowns daily. After the alcoholic fermentation had finished, the wine was racked off into old barriques and 50-hl casks where it went through malolactic conversion. The wine was aged in casks for 18 months before bottling. Mid to deep ruby. Takes its time to open up and I would decant this because you are going to finish the bottle before you know it, and the youthful nose with peppery cherry and raspberry notes then really comes into its own. Juicy, rich but not heavy or sweet red fruit on the palate with soft bitter-sweet tannins that need more time to integrate into the wine. Hedonistic. (WS)
Perfection in sangiovese, with cherry blossoms, chalk, seashells, fine sand and violets on the nose and palate. Medium- to full-bodied with focused and poised tannins that are wonderfully integrated and rather endless. Crunchy and chewy at the end. Such presence. You want to spend time with this wine. A top selection from two vineyards Olmo and one in the village of Chianti Classico in Lamole, 60 and 88 years old, respectively. This is a wine that gives great pleasure now, but will be even better in two or three years.
About the producer
Based just outside Florence, Bibi Graetz is something of a maverick in the Tuscan wine scene. Working with old vineyards of indigenous grapes around Chianti, he produces intense wines classified as IGT Toscana; not fitting neatly in either the Super Tuscan or Chianti camp.