De Bortoli Wines is a third generation family company established in Australia back in 1928 after Vittorio and Guiseppina De Bortoli emigrated there from Northern Italy. The family continue to produce some wines that were made when the winery started up all those years ago, whilst developing new varieties through the generations. We tried three of the De Bortoli range recently and excellent wines they were too.
The first, the De Bortoli DB Verdelho 2009, is a pale white that has fresh floral notes, green fruits, peardrops and a slight acidic hint on the nose. As you taste it you get a mouthful of fruit and tangy clean freshness with some slight acidity. A good crisp white, this wine has kiwi and peachy flavours coming through on the palate and some slight floral notes develop. It is a wine that has a nice refreshing quality and although light it has some length on the palate. It’s a white that you could enjoy on its own, but it would be a great accompaniment to a light lunch. We had it with some Chinese food and its clean sharpness came through really well, it would also go equally well with seafood or delicate fish dishes.
De Bortoli DB Verdelho 2009, can be found at Waitrose, priced at £5.97
The De Bortoli Deen Vat 7 Chardonnay 2008, like many Chardonnays has a heady bouquet, with notes of honey, melon, slight oakiness and a freshness on the nose. On the palate there is some initial acidity and a light crispness, the flavours develop as this medium bodied wine mellows in the mouth. It has a good mouth coating feel and we got apricot, peach, citrus and under ripe strawberry flavours. I’m not usually a fan of oaked Chardonnay, it can have a cloying flavour and an aftertaste that I don’t care for, but this one doesn’t, it has a good freshness and a clean length on the palate. This is a white that would pair well with bolder white meat dishes, maybe a good candidate for your Christmas table to accompany the turkey for those white drinkers among us. I could also see this standing up to some fuller flavoured meats like pork.
De Bortoli Deen Vat 7 Chardonnay 2008, can be found at Oddbins, priced at £9.99
The De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Pinot Noir 2007 is a lovely light red with good deep berry fruits on the nose. In the mouth it was refreshing with a dark berries caming through, as well as blackcurrant and plum, the wine has some tang and acidity with a slight spicy, peppery edge. There is a light tannic finish to it and great length on the palate. This is a very enjoyable wine that would pair well with less heavy red meat dishes, such as beef carpaccio.
De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Pinot Noir 2007, can be found at Oddbins, priced at £19.99
All three of these De Bortoli wines were very good indeed; the winery is certainly producing some excellent stuff. If you want to find out more about De Bortoli wines, go to: www.debortoli.com.au where you can view their full range.