From painter to cult winemaker: Bibi Graetz in Fiesole
Bibi Graetz grew up in an artist family in Fiesole, the small hill town northeast of Florence — his father, Gidon Graetz, was a sculptor. He studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence before the vineyards surrounding the family estate, Castello di Vincigliata, captivated him in the mid-1990s. What began as a personal interest in the old vines, which previously only provided wine for personal consumption, culminated in the founding of his winery in the year 2000. Without formal training as a winemaker, Bibi released two wines with his very first harvest that remain his flagship labels to this day: Testamatta and Colore. In the following years, he leased additional old vine plots in Tuscany, building up — parcel by parcel — one of the largest collections of old vines in the entire region.
Old vines and a course towards elegance
Today, the winery works with around 30 hectares of vineyards, divided into many small plots that stretch from the hills around Florence to Chianti Classico and further to Siena. The vineyards include sites in Vincigliata, Montefili, Londa, and Lamole. At the core are autochthonous Tuscan varieties: Sangiovese, Colorino, and Canaiolo for the red wines — vines that are in some cases over 80 years old.
Bibi Graetz describes his own approach as one of transparency. A decisive turning point came with the weak 2009 vintage, whose lighter, translucent fruit steered him permanently in the direction of elegance and freshness. Since then, he has consciously distinguished by exposure: grapes from cooler, high-altitude, and north-facing vineyards flow into the Testamatta, while the more concentrated fruit from south-facing slopes goes into the Colore. For his white wines, he works on the island of Giglio with the native Ansonica grape — from terraced sites between sea level and 300 meters in altitude, from vines that are up to 100 years old and trained in the deep goblet style to withstand the sea wind.
Testamatta, Colore, and the white from Giglio
The wines from Bibi Graetz all carry the simple IGT Toscana label — a conscious decision that allows him maximum freedom regarding grape varieties and style, rather than submitting to a DOC rulebook. Testamatta (translated: "crazy head") is a single-varietal Sangiovese that enters with a cool acid structure, cherry and herbal aromas, and captivates with its vibrancy. Colore, also based on Sangiovese, draws from the riper south-facing plots and shows a fuller, denser body. The whites — Testamatta Bianco and the Brut Rosé counterpart in the range — are based on Ansonica from Giglio and bring sea saltiness, texture, and a striking mineral profile. All wines feature original artwork by Bibi himself on the label: each bottle is also visually a unique piece that does not deny its origins in the fine arts.
