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De Bortoli

De Bortoli is today one of Australia's largest wine producers, and it remains in the hands of the descendants of its founder, Vittorio De Bortoli. De Bortoli arrived from his native Italy in Australia in 1924, with dreams of a better life in the New World. Landing at Melbourne, after an arduous sea voyage, De Bortoli faced another lengthy journey by train before arriving at Griffith in New South Wales. And he faced another three years of labour as a farmhand, for very little pay, before accruing the necessary funds to buy a farm of his own. This was the start of De Bortoli wines.

It was, however, a shaky start. Times were hard. Vittorio De Bortoli was joined by other family members, and together they concentrated on mixed farming to ensure an income. Like many winemakers Vittorio started by making a little wine purely for the family's own consumption. Before long, however, he was receiving orders from guests who had sampled his wines, and the business began to take off. Despite some success, times remained hard, particularly during the Second World War when many immigrant Germans and Italians faced confiscation of land and property, and even imprisonment.

The De Bertoli brothers - Victor, Darren and Kevin Fortunately this fate did not befall the De Bortoli family, and when the war ended the family business continued to go from strength to strength. After De Bortoli died in 1979, his son Deen De Bortoli inherited the winery, and it is this arm of the family that runs De Bortoli today. His two daughters, Florrie and Eola, inherited a distribution business established by De Bortoli in Sydney.

De Bortoli produce an impressive array of wines and spirits, using purchased fruit as well as that from their own vineyards in Riverina and the Hunter Valley in New South Wales (NSW) and the King Valley and Yarra Valley in Victoria. There are so many that it is a pointless task to list them all, but one cuvée deserves specific mention. The jewel in the crown is the De Bortoli Sauternes, which was first produced in 1982. In later years renamed Noble One, this is a classic botrytised Semillon, with a label and capsule bearing a remarkable resemblance to that of Yquem, the most famous dessert wine of Sauternes. (8/12/00)

Contact details:
Address: PO Box 21, Bilbul, NSW 2680
Telephone: +61 (0) 2 6966 0100
Fax: +61 (0) 2 6966 0199
Internet: www.debortoli.com.au

De Bortoli - Tasting Notes

I tasted the following in December 2005. Click to locate stockists.

De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (NSW) 1995: From half-bottles. A very deep, orange-copper hue. Liquid marmalade on the nose, with botrytis, baked earth and oranges, barley sugar and caramel. Full, rich palate with almost insensible acidity. Deep and smoky flavours, with notes of baked honey, barley sugar and toffee character on the palate, which has a huge, cloying finish. Sadly lacking in acidity, and therefore it does not posses the verve of a great wine, this hasn't made the same impression on me as my last tasting five years ago; perhaps this is down to development of my palate as much as the wine itself? From a 1995 vintage ten years on tasting. 12/20

I tasted the following wines in December 2000.

De Bortoli Sacred Hill Chardonnay (NSW) 1999: A pleasant white fruit nose. A nicely textured palate, with a good presence of fruit and a sensible amount of oak. Acidity a little too obvious. Fair.

De Bortoli Yarra Valley Chardonnay (Victoria) 1998: A quite different, big and brash, fat, oaky, coconutty nose. Unsurprisingly, the palate is somewhat drowned in vanillin oak. There is some quality fruit underneath it all. For true oak lovers only at present, but this may improve with time. Quite good.

De Bortoli Windy Peak Pinot Noir (Victoria) 1999: Unimpressive nose and weak, confected palate. A jammy New World Pinot, not to my taste. Poor.

De Bortoli Sacred Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (NSW) 1999: A light, spicy, red fruit nose. Unimpressive on the palate, some spice and fruitcake, but a very light overall impression. Poor.

De Bortoli Vat 96 Verdelho (NSW) 2000: A light, fresh, aromatic nose. A good, creamy texture, with melon and oak flavours. Softer acidity with this wine. Quite good.

De Bortoli Vat 1 Durif (NSW) 1998: A big, spicy, fruity yet somewhat green and leafy nose. Again quite light on the palate, but with some pleasant fruit. An unusual flavour profile, coming across as a bit confected. Peppery on the finish. Doesn't appeal to me, but may to some. Fair.

De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (NSW) 1996: A rich golden hue. Freshly made toast and marmalade on the nose. A delightfully unctuous texture, but with good balancing acidity, and thus an improvement on the 1995. Orange marmalade, apricots, a touch nutty, and lovely botrytis character. Finishes superbly. I wish I hadn't bought so much of the 1995 vintage, as this has a greater harmony and balance. Excellent.

De Bortoli Black Noble (NSW) NV: A very individual looking, fairly pale caramel coloured wine. A big woody nose. A surprisingly rich and unctuous texture in view of the appearance, with freshly brewed tea, caramel and wood. An unusual style of wine. Quite good.

I tasted the following wine in August 2000.

De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (NSW) 1995: A rich amber colour, and a typical botrytis nose of quince jelly. On the forepalate there is a fresh, lifting acidity which brings light relief from the rich, unctuous, botrytis characteristics that then develop in the mouth. As you would expect, significant length. Very good - it will be interesting to see how this wine develops over the next decade or so. Very good.