Langtons Selections ^3De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon, De Bortoli Reserve Pinot Noir, De Bortoli Reserve Chardonnay, De Bortoli GS Reserve Shiraz, De Bortoli Melba Barrel Select Cabernet Blend, De Bortoli Pinot Noir Originally a commercial winemaker, this producer has become an innovator at the top end firstly through the creation of Noble One Botrytis Semillon, a richly exotic, sweet, dessert wine that has set the pace for well over 15 years, and, secondly, through investment in Victoria’s Yarra Valley. Vittorio de Bortoli arrived in Griffith in 1924, the centre of the Riverina region and a part of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Returned soldiers from WW1 and Italian immigrants are largely responsible for growth of this important wine-growing region. De Bortoli established a mixed farming business and hobby winery in 1927, purchasing a 55 acre fruit farm. The venture has thrived through the second and third generations with Deen de Bortoli, his son Darren, son-in-law Steve Webber and other family members improving quality, expanding markets and production. De Bortoli has completely reinvented itself over the last 20 years after purchasing the Chateau Yarrinya Winery in the Yarra Valley in 1987. This winery is focussed completely on premium quality wines. In 1997 De Bortoli was awarded the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy for its 1996 GS Reserve Shiraz, firming up its position as one of the Valley’s emerging stars. Steve Webber has emerged as one of the country’s most thoughtful wine philosophers. He has completely turned around the whole orientation of the business to reflect the family’s desire to make wines that reflect a sense of place. This has started in the vineyard with the introduction of low input organic principles to improve vine and soil health and grow better fruit. A laissez faire approach where ‘less is more’ extends into the winery. Gravity rather than pumps (which can strip flavour), use of indigenous yeast and intuitive oak maturation are all employed to allow the wines to show their true origins. The Yarra Valley Reserve wines are the most impressive. The Reserve Chardonnay is a fruit driven, maturation style and only sees older oak. This is not a negative. The wines are highly perfumed with lovely richness and flavour. The Reserve Pinot Noir is traditionally made and oak matured for 10 months. The Reserve Syrah is also fermented in open fermenters and aged in oak for 10 months. De Bortoli has occasionally released a GS Reserve Shiraz and Melba Reserve (named after Dame Nellie Melba the great Australian opera singer) Cabernet Sauvignon but these seem to have become intermittent rather than regular offerings. The standard Yarra Valley Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz Viognier are stand out premium wines and offer generally very good value. De Bortoli has worked on joint ventures including the highly esoteric but beautifully made Phi wines with the Shelmerdine family’s Lusatia Park vineyard. It also leases a premier cru vineyard at Gevrey Chambertin in Burgundy. Steve Webber won Australian Gourmet Traveller WINE Magazine’s Winemaker of the Year Award after having been nominated a record 3 times. He is one of the great all rounders with not only great skills but the generosity of spirit to translate knowledge across generations. De Bortoli is a great family, a great business and a credit to the Australian fine wine community. From a secondary wine market perspective, the wines are relatively erratic performers, but does that really matter. The wines are really worth seeking out. Andrew Caillard MW, Langtons