Deen De Bortoli, Visionary, Builder & Innovator

In 1952 the Vittorio's young son, the precocious 15-year-old Deen De Bortoli joined the family business. Deen’s passion was machinery and the new technology becoming available to winemakers. He was a visionary who saw the potential of wine as a popular beverage and he worked hard to increase the winery's capacity, not without opposition from his more traditionally minded parents. By 1959 he had increased capacity to 110 vats, holding 795,000 gallons.

Deen whose involvement in the Australian Wine Industry would be more than 50 years became a major force, a mover and shaker who energetically expanded his family company, relentlessly building and implementing many innovations, introducing new wine styles and embracing new technology and viticultural practices.

However, distribution was essential for the survival of the company. Archaic licensing laws and restricted distribution limited the amount of wine that could be sold from Bilbul. Vittorio purchased a licence with Giuseppina's personal savings that enabled the company to package and sell wine in New South Wales and Queensland. Deen's sister Florrie and her husband Silvio became managers of the wine distribution company set up in Sydney. His younger sister Eola and her husband Ian ran the business after Florrie and Silvio moved on. When his father died in 1979, Deen's sisters inherited the Sydney assets while Deen inherited the Bilbul winery.

Early in Deen’s career, fortified wines were the major sector of the market. De Bortoli with its Italian heritage, was one of the first companies to lead the way in the production of dry table wines which became popular during the 1960s and 1970s when a major wine boom occurred in Australia. Deen also released a fruity Italian style sparkling wine called Vittorio Spumante onto the market which introduced a whole new generation to wine. [The Emeri sparkling range is made in a similar tradition].

The 1960s also saw the birth of Deen and his wife Emeri's four children, the third generation of the dynasty, Darren, Leanne, Kevin and Victor spurring Deen's expansionary vision even further. As Leanne De Bortoli puts it, “Looking back at it now, I think he just wanted to make sure the place was set up for us to slide into.”

During the 1980s Deen and his son Darren made a sweet white wine from botrytised semillon 'Noble One' now Australia’s benchmark sweet white wine. In 1987 the company purchased its Yarra Valley estate and the 1990s saw the ever energetic Deen establish a large vineyard in the King Valley in North Eastern Victoria. Deen also oversaw the family purchase of a winery and vineyard in the Hunter Valley in 2002. Deen was a member of the Vine Improvement Society and active in the management of the company vineyards. He was also a member of in the MIA Sustainable Development Committee, concerned with land management issues including salinity control, drainage, recycling, and the streamlining of irrigation systems.

Deen lived to celebrate De Bortoli Wines' 75^th Anniversary but died suddenly in October 2003. At one of the functions celebrating this milestone event, Deen paid tribute to his hard working parents. As he put it, 'If it hadn't been for my father, there would have been nothing for me to carry on'. Deen was born at the winery at Bilbul and died at the winery at Bilbul which had become such a part of himself and his parent's legacy. Deen had a passion and instinct for his family company and the wine industry. Perhaps his greatest legacy was his open-mindedness and willingness to embrace new ideas.