De Bortoli – Producer profile
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Expansion has seen De Bortoli become one of Australia's most successful wineries...
Arriving in New South Wales from Italy, in 1928 Vittorio De Bortoli founded what is today one of Australia’s most successful family-owned wineries.
The estate has expanded into some of Australia’s best known wine regions across Victoria and New South Wales including the Yarra, King and Hunter Valleys and most recently, Heathcote.
View all of Decanter’s De Bortoli tasting notes
There has been a move towards sustainable and biological farming practices, delivering high quality fruit and real environmental benefits. In fact, in 2016 De Bortoli were awarded New South Wales’ first Sustainability Advantage Platinum Project certificate, in recognition of outstanding environmental leadership and commitment to innovation.
Sarah Fagan, winemaker at the Yarra Valley estate, uses French oak as a supportive role rather than a driving force. She notes that the Cabernet Sauvignon here responds well to a longer growing season. ‘We tend to find that if we are able to pick during the so called Indian Summer period, we see more refined tannins, expressive fruit lift and generally a more balanced wine as a result’.
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James Button is Decanter’s regional editor for Italy, responsible for all of Decanter's Italian content in print and online.
Like many others, he started his wine career at Majestic Wine, giving him a strong grounding in the subject before successfully completing the WSET Level 4 Diploma in 2010. From 2014 to 2016 he managed the fine wine department of a startup wine company in London, before joining Decanter as digital sub-editor.
Outside of wine, James enjoys cooking, skiing, playing guitar and cycling.