History

It was not easy to find a Prosecco that could satisfy our requirements, but finally we came in contact with Cantine Umberto Bortolotti and the wines are a great addition to our portfolio. The average production, although approximately 900.000 bottles a year, is by no means large in comparison to other wineries in the Valdobbiadene area.
The Cantine was established in 1947 by Umberto Bortolotti who had a real passion for Prosecco; together with a group of friends he founded the “Consorzio di Tutela del Prosecco” (Consortium for the safeguarding of Prosecco), the Prosecco brotherhood and he also set up the National Fair of sparkling wines in 1963.
The cellars have been at their present location since 1954 and have recently been completely renovated. The business is now run with much enthusiasm by Umberto’s son Bruno together with his nephew Daniele and this winery is a perfect blend of extremely modern technology and respect for tradition. A small group of grape growers within the Valdobbiadene appellation has been carefully selected over the years, together with oenologist Enrico Baratto and Marika Zanatta today, ensuring that only grapes of the highest quality are vinified. All of the wines are made by the Charmat production method.
There are two main lines of wines; the Linea UB where the Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG is predominant along with a few other grape varieties and the Linea Codice Bortolotti that includes 3 millésimé sparkling wines.
Four DOCG single vineyard wines have recently been released: Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Rolle “Piai Alto”, Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di S. Stefano “Montagnole”, Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Col S. Martino “Vigneto Castel de Donà” and Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Vigneto Àltena. “Rive” means “steep hill” in local dialect. This indication on the label is only allowed for sparkling wines that represent the essence of the terroir they derive from. The wines are produced from vineyards located in a single village where the maximum allowed grape yield is reduced to 13 tons per hectare. The harvest from theses old vines has to be manual and the vintage must be shown on the label.