The Bottega company celebrates 45 years since its foundation in 1977. An important milestone for what has become one of Italy’s top 20 private wineries and exports its products to 150 countries worldwide.
The Bottega group is both a winery and a distillery, with a close-knit team of oenologists who are experts in both winemaking and distillation. The company is based in Bibano di Godega S.U., 50 km north of Venice. Located in the Prosecco DOC area, it is in the centre of an area where Cabernet, Chardonnay, Raboso, Picolit and other well-known grape varieties are successfully cultivated. This area is the most favourable in Italy for finding quality pomace.
Distilleria Bottega was founded in 1977 by Aldo Bottega, a master distiller with more than thirty years of experience in the sector, and his wife Rosina Zambon. Aldo had inherited from his father Domenico and ancestors, tenant farmers and vine growers since the 1600s, a passion for the vine.
At the end of the 1970s the company was a small business, operating in the local grappa market. In 1983, when the founder died, his son Sandro, together with his siblings Barbara and Stefano, took over the company. Within a few years Distilleria Bottega emerged from anonymity, thanks to an innovative distillation system that makes grappa softer and more delicate. In 1992, in a sign of diversification, Il Vino dei Poeti was produced, a sparkling Prosecco, which also opened up the wine market to the company. In 1993, Monica Lisetto, an extraordinary designer, joined the company, giving further impetus to the uniqueness of Bottega products. The collaboration with Stefania Sandrelli was consolidated and Chianti Acino d’Oro was born. In 1995, the launch of Fragolino, a drink of great tradition, altered the balance in the beverage sector.
After ten years of research, the company opened a new distillery in Pianzano (TV) that combined triple distillation, vacuum and bain-marie, allowing the production of soft, richly aromatic distillates.
In the early 2000s, Bottega Gold was launched, the Prosecco Doc characterised by its golden livery bottle, which proved to be an icon of Italian taste and a great commercial success. Several attempts at imitation by competitors forced the company to take legal action to protect the brand.
In 2004, the spray grappa was born, enclosed in a small bottle with a vaporizer. 2007 is an important year, as the headquarters in Bibano is inaugurated. It is a large 19th-century farmhouse, called Villa Rosina, which has been renovated in full respect of the most advanced environmental protection criteria and is entirely surrounded by vineyards. Inside the property are the distillery and the cellar for the production of Prosecco and other sparkling wines.
In 2011, the meticulous renovation of the historic building in Pianzano was completed, where the new Soffieria Alexander was opened. This is where the artistic Alexander bottles are created, respecting the tradition of blown glass.
Between 2009 and 2011, the company expanded its wine production to Valpolicella and Montalcino. In 2018, the meticulous restoration of a historic wine cellar in Valgatara, in the heart of Valpolicella Classica, was completed. The structure, purchased by the company three years earlier, is characterised by its great architectural value and is surrounded by the denomination’s vineyards. In Montalcino at the end of 2019, the Bottega company acquired a winery within the denomination. In the first one in Valgatara (VR), the famous Amarone and Ripasso are produced. In the second, in Montalcino (SI), Brunello, the prince of Italian wines, originates.
Previously in 2013, Distilleria Bottega Srl, was transformed into Bottega S.p.A.
Among the most important milestones is the birth of the Prosecco Bar project. Launched in 2014, it re-proposes the philosophy of the Venetian bacaro, combining dishes of Venetian and Italian cuisine with Bottega wines and spirits. Today there are 32 locations around the world, inside airports, stations, cruise ships and hotels.
Contact: Giovanni Savio – Bottega S.p.A. – Tel. +39 0438 406801 – giovannisavio@bottegaspa.com – www.bottegaspa.com
