THE ORIGINS
Documents dating back to the mid-18th century certify the existence of Bartolomeo Bortolomiol, the forebear from whom today’s family takes its name and whose trade it has plied for generations. Bartolomeo spent his life growing grapes on the hills of Valdobbiadene. Passing his love of the land and his ability to obtain the best from it on to his descendants. His lessons were well learnt by Giuliano Bortolomiol, the founder of today’s sparkling wine company.
He has always believed in the quality and future of designation of origin Prosecco to which he has dedicated his whole life. In turn, the founder’s daughters, Maria Elena, Elvira, Luisa and Giuliana have made this mission their own and, together with their mother, Ottavia and the oenologist, Gianfranco Zanon, have invested resources and energy in ensuring product quality and maintaining the company’s strong links with the land and its history. GIULIANO BORTOLOMIOL
Following in his father’s footsteps and family tradition with a natural gift for wine making, Giuliano Bortolomiol, while still a young man, decided to enrol at the prestigious Conegliano Wine School.
In the years immediately after the Second World War, the sight of abandoned vineyards instilled in him the awareness of having a mission to share: the rebirth of the vineyards and above all the determination to enhance Prosecco in both quality and renown terms.
His dream was to elevate Prosecco from a local product without great expectations to a prestigious sparkling wine known throughout the world.
Today this dream has come true and Prosecco Superiore, after obtaining Docg designation, has become a wine appreciated at international level.
He was among the founders, in 1946, of the Confraternita del Prosecco (Prosecco Wine Fraternity) and, later on, of the Mostra dello Spumante (Sparkling Wine Exhibition) (today Forum Spumanti d’Italia). Giuliano Bortolomiol was also a master of the Martinotti-Charmat method and, as a great, intuitive experimenter, he was the first to create Prosecco Brut. TODAY AND TOMORROW
The company is currently run by Giuliano’s four daughters. This generational change has brought with it a new managerial vision, but without altering the principles of family tradition: first and foremost product quality and promotion of the area.
The commitment of the Bortolomiol women is not only to proudly achieve a female work outlook, but above all bring fresh femininity into the world of wine. For the Bortolomiol women, this means, above all, greater territorial awareness. From projects centred on a more aware, sustainable type of agriculture to greater focus on the entire production chain, femininity has become part of the company’s daily life and has been extended to other areas.
For the Bortolomiol women, female excellence also means supporting humanitarian projects, such as the Benin (Africa) project, to integrate 60 women in the entrepreneurial world; the special courses for grape suppliers complete with assistance in the vineyard and the advice of expert agronomists; or the creation of a scholarship bearing the founder’s name; or firm support given to the Comunitá di Sant’Egidio and to the “Wine for life” initiative.
The company’s future is expansion. Not meaning just targeting interesting markets to be launched on, aware and proud of the distinctive designation. But also an authentic company commitment towards projects of an environmental and humanitarian nature. THE PROSECCO DREAM
The Bortolomiol family, together with Veronelli Editore, have produced the book entitled “Giuliano Bortolomiol – Il sogno del Prosecco” (The Prosecco Dream). Not only an affectionate reflection on a husband and father, but above all a tribute to the founder and an accolade for the pioneer of the Prosecco world.
The biography is part of the series “Semi – I Protagonisti delle Culture Materiali” telling the stories of men and women who worked and lived for the land, with actions more than words, with produce more than intentions.
Author of the book is Ettore Gobbato. He tells the story through day to day routines, reproducing dialogues and everyday events, combining it all to recount the life of a man who, one step after another, consistently with determination, transformed Prosecco, once drunk only in and around Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, into an international star. Representing Made in Italy sparkling wine on the world stage more than any other.
The story begins after the Second World War and is one of poverty, dignity, emigration, bicycles ridden to school, reconstruction of the country and of possible alternatives. The countryside was in a disastrous state and farmers preferred to abandon the hills and move onto the plains to find better-paid work. Everyone had to be convinced that there was a future in that wine sold draught and served in a carafe: the history of a dream with no flights of fancy, just concrete steps; founding the Confraternity, the Company, setting up the Consortium, renovating Villa Dei Cedri, and creating the National Sparkling Wine Exhibition.
All this is narrated with family feelings, the solidarity of friends, this simple protagonist’s small daily gestures and wanting to achieve. Fragments of humanity transforming an entrepreneur’s biography into a territorial novel to be read all in one go. With a happy ending. Giuliano’s dream came true in 2009 with the DOCG which means greater reliability for the consumer and more protection for producers for a wine which, like Prosecco Superiore, is unique.
