The De Bortoli story is one of triumph over adversity. Italian immigrant Vittorio De Bortoli came to Australia with virtually nothing in 1924, and the flat plains and red earth he found in New South Wales was very different to the rolling hills of Treviso. But within a few years he had bought a farm, and taken 15 tonnes of Shiraz grapes for free that otherwise would have been left to rot.
That became the foundation of the winery that has grown into one of the largest and most successful in the Yarra Valley. In 1982 the third generation Darren De Bortoli created the iconic Noble One Botrytis Semillon, their signature sweet wine that was three times winner of Best Botrytis Wine at the International Wine & Spirit Competition. Noble One remains in many critics’ eyes the benchmark of Australian dessert wines, the jewel in the De Bortoli crown of reds, whites, sparkling and fortified wines. In recent years De Bortoli has made sustainability a key part of its mission, becoming an innovator in water re-use, biological farming and waste management.