De Bortoli Wines

De Bortoli Wines Pty Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryWine
Founded1928
HeadquartersBilbul, New South Wales, Australia
Key people
Emeri De Bortoli, Darren De Bortoli, Leanne Webber (nee De Bortoli), Victor De Bortoli, Kevin De Bortoli
Websitehttp://www.debortoli.com.au

De Bortoli Wines is a wine-producing private family owned company based in Australia. In 2022 it was ranked the seventh largest Australian wine company by production,[1]and the sixth largest in terms of total revenue.[2] Its range of wines includes the sweet white dessert wine, Noble One.[3]

De Bortoli Wines Bilbul Winery

Wineries and vineyards[edit]

De Bortoli Wines currently owns four wineries in four different Australian wine growing regions, having more recently acquired the vineyards, winery and tourism facility of Rutherglen Estates in 2018.[4][5]

The company has vineyards in the same regions as its wineries, along with the King Valley in Victoria.

Winemaking[edit]

The winemaking team is overseen by third-generation winemaker Darren De Bortoli and his brother-in-law Steve Webber. In the early 1980s, Darren De Bortoli created the Noble One Botrytis Semillon. Steve Webber established the company's premium Yarra Valley winery in the early 1990s and is also responsible for overseeing the company's King Valley vineyards and Hunter Valley winery and vineyards.

The company quotes its philosophy as, "great wine begins in the vineyard", and that the winemaker should use minimal handling and interference in the winemaking process. They also state that wine should have a sense of regionality and be an expression of the soil in which it is grown.

Noble One[edit]

De Bortoli Wines Noble One Botrytis Semillon is a sweet white wine, developed by Darren De Bortoli during the 1980s.[6]

Since its release, Noble One has been awarded 104[7] Trophies, 352 Gold medals[7] and 113 International Awards. In 2005 screw cap closures were placed on 50% of the 750ml bottles of 2003 Noble One in a trial that attempted to ensure fruit intensity and freshness for consumers. De Bortoli Wines have kept the 375ml, 50% of the 750ml and all export stock under cork. However, in an industry where issues over cork taint keep arising, approximately 34% of wines are sealed with some type of synthetic closure.

Noble One was given its name in 1990 as a result of the bilateral agreement between Australia and the European Economic Community in which Australia agreed to phase out the use of European names on wine labels. Previously the wine was known as 'Sauternes,' but today it is simply called Noble One.[8]

History[edit]

During Darren De Bortoli's years at Roseworthy Agricultural College, Australia's premier winemaking institute, a lot of development work was being done on Botrytis wine styles. While there, De Bortoli decided to make a botrytis affected wine of his own. At that time (1982) there was a surplus of Semillon grapes, a thin skinned, tight bunched varietal particularly susceptible to extensive, uniform botrytis infection. The resulting wine went on to win numerous awards including Best Botrytis Wine at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in 1984.[3]

History[edit]

De Bortoli Wines was established in 1928 by Vittorio & Giuseppina De Bortoli and rapidly expanded under the direction of their son, Deen De Bortoli.[9] The family history is documented in a book called Celebrazione! launched in 2003 to celebrate De Bortoli Wines' 75th Anniversary.[10]

Deen De Bortoli (born 1936) was the chairman of De Bortoli Wines. He was born in 1936, and at age 15 he left school to help Vittorio and Giuseppina, his parents run the family business.[9] He married Emeri De Bortoli in 1958, and lived in Bilbul, New South Wales, his whole life. They had four children who all work for the company today. Deen featured in the 2002 episode of the ABC's Dynasties television series titled The De Bortolis of Griffith[11] which tracked the growth over three generations of the family business from Italian immigrants into one of Australia's largest family wine companies. Deen passed away in 2003 at the age of 67.[9]

Darren De Bortoli (born 1960) is currently the managing director of De Bortoli Wines Pty Limited. He was born in 1960 and then studied winemaking at Roseworthy College in South Australia, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Oenology, in 1982. Darren is well known for his Botrytis Semillon, Noble One. At the age of 33, Darren was appointed Managing Director.[12] He was also featured in the 2002 episode of the ABC's Dynasties television series titled The De Bortolis of Griffith[11]

Darren's sister Leanne manages the Yarra and King Valley wineries with her husband Stephen Webber. Webber is also the Chief Winemaker, for the Yarra Valley Winery of the De Bortoli family business, established in 1928. He was awarded 'Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE' in 2007.[13]

In 2018 a social media scandal surrounding Darren De Bortoli's personal postings became international news. The postings were described as "sexist" and "inappropriate."[14]

Achievements[edit]

  • The Graham Gregory Award for Services to the NSW Wine Industry, in 1995.[15]
  • The Inaugural Golden Plate Award for his contribution to the wine industry in the Riverina.[9]
  • The Jimmy Watson Award for 1996 Yarra Valley Golf Station Reserve Shiraz, in 1997.[15][9]
  • Past President of the MIA Winemakers Association.[15]
  • Australian Wine Research Institute board member[16]
  • Chairman of Judges Melbourne Wine Show[17]
  • 2007 Winemaker of the Year by GourmetTraveller WINE[13]

Environment and technology[edit]

As a family owned company, De Bortoli Wines has often taken a longer-term view of the world than a traditional corporate equivalent.

Examples include the consideration of concepts such as data sovereignty and commitment to open standards and the rollout of Linux desktop clients.[18][19][20]

Examples of De Bortoli Wines' long-term view of environmental sustainability include:

  • Participating in the Greenhouse Challenge and Packaging Covenant and the Australian Wine Industry Environmental Stewardship program.
  • Adopting an integrated Pest Management System in the vineyard minimising the use of chemical sprays.
  • Purchasing easy to clean winery equipment to minimise water usage, for example dry cake discharge filters and centrifuges.
  • Adopting recycling practices at all sites e.g. composting of winery skins and stalks, restaurant compostables, separation of bottles, cardboard, cork, and plastic.
  • Replacing sodium with potassium in the cleaning process for winery tanks and machinery due to concerns relating to salinity in the environment. This change also enabled the reuse of wastewater (now containing potash) as a fertiliser for crops.[21]
  • Having the first project from NSW Office of Environment and Heritage's Sustainability Advantage program recognised as Platinum[21][22], and in 2022 becoming the first organisation to be awarded the title of Platinum Partner under the NSW Government’s Sustainability Advantage Program[23][24]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Australia's largest wine companies by total wine production". winetitles.com. winetitles media. 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Australia's largest wine companies by total revenue". winetitles.com. winetitles media. 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Young, Andy (31 March 2022). "De Bortoli celebrating 40 Noble years". theshout.com.au. The Shout. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b Madigan, Anthony (15 December 2018). "De Bortoli Wines buys Rutherglen Estates". wbmonline.com.au. Wine Business Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Hooke, Huon (31 January 2019). "De Bortoli buys Rutherglen Estates". The Real Review. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Noble One named one of New World's Top 10 Sweet Wines". Drinks Trade. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Noble One 25th Vintage Anniversary".
  8. ^ "Noble One's array of gongs are a case of just desserts". Australian Financial Review. 5 September 2003. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e "A fine De Bortoli vintage runs dry". The Age newspaper. 28 October 2003. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ^ "De Bortoli Wines". Wine Yarra Valley. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Dynasties: The De Bortolis Of Griffith". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 December 2002. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Our Family". De Bortoli Wines. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Dining Out".
  14. ^ Madigan, Anthony (10 February 2018). "De Bortoli Wines in Damage Control After Offensive Facebook Post". WBM Online. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "Death of Mr Deen de Bortoli - 29/10/2003 - ADJ - NSW Parliament". Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  16. ^ "The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) | AWRI Board". Archived from the original on 18 December 2008.
  17. ^ "The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) | AWRI Board". Archived from the original on 18 December 2008.
  18. ^ Hennessy, Kate (11 March 2008). "Open source of grape expectations". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  19. ^ Douglas, "Jeanne-Vida" (18 August 2005). "Open source of grape expectations". ZDNET. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  20. ^ "KDE Software Down Under". kde.org. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  21. ^ a b "How De Bortoli Wines is tackling climate change from 'grape to glass'". NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  22. ^ "De Bortoli Wines - Our vision to become a 'Zero Waste Winery'" (video). youtube.com. De Bortoli Wines. 13 November 2017.
  23. ^ May, Seamus (19 January 2023). "De Bortoli recognised as top sustainability partner by NSW Government". The Shout. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Environment and Heritage: De Bortoli Wines". NSW Government. Retrieved 23 June 2024.

External links[edit]

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