The Bottega company recently celebrated 45 years since its foundation. Established in 1977 by master distiller Aldo Bottega and his wife Rosina Zambon, Bottega has grown into one of Italy’s top 20 private wineries and exports products to 150 countries around the world.
The company is based in Bibano di Godega di Sant’Urbano, 50km north of Venice, and in 2013 the structure of the company was transformed from Distilleria Bottega S.r.L to Bottega S.p.A.. Its team of oenologists are experts in both winemaking and distillation. The winery is located in the Prosecco DOC (designation of controlled origin) area, where Cabernet, Chardonnay, Raboso, Picolit and other grape varieties are cultivated and flourish.
At the end of the 1970s, the company was a small business operating in the local grappa market. When Aldo Bottega died in 1983, children Sandro, Barbara and Stefano took over the company. They oversaw an innovative distillation system, making grappa softer and more delicate, which helped the company grow. As part of diversification, in 1992 the company began producing Il Vino dei Poeti, a sparkling Prosecco that saw Bottega enter the wine market. A year later, designer Monica Lisetto joined the company. Other notable landmarks in the 1990s include the launches of the Chianti Acino d’Oro and Fragolino wines.
The company subsequently instigated several other innovations in production and marketing. Opening a new distillery in Pianzano, in the province of Treviso, facilitated the production of soft, aromatic spirits. In the early 2000s, Bottega Gold was launched in a bottle with golden livery. The Prosecco proved a major commercial success. And in 2004 Grappa spray was launched to market in a small bottle with a vaporiser.
In 2007 new corporate headquarters were opened at Villa Rosina, a restored 19th-century farmhouse in Bibano. Surrounded by vineyards, the property has a cellar for the production of Prosecco and other sparkling wines plus a distillery.
In 2011, the restoration of a historic building in Pianzano was completed and opened as the Alexander glass-blowing plant.
Between 2009 and 2011, the company expanded its wine production to Valpolicella and Montalcino. In 2018, Bottega completed the restoration of a historic cellar in Valgatara amid vineyards producing Amarone and Ripasso wines. The following year, the company acquired a winery in Montalcino producing Brunello.
Launched in 2014, Bottega’s Prosecco Bar project rethinks the philosophy behind Venice’s traditional bacaro taverns. Regional and national dishes are served alongside Bottega wines and spirits. Today there are 32 locations around the world in airports, stations, cruise ships and hotels.
The company looks strong on entering its 46th year.
