De Bortoli’s 2021 Noble One has been named The Real Review’s Sweet Wine Of The Year for 2025. Sweet wines hold a special place in the world of fine wine, with balancing richness, precision and time-honoured technique. According to The Real Review’s Stuart Knox, sweet wines are a testament to winemakers’ patience, dedication and bravery to produce wines that are harvested so late in the season. The ability to bring all the sweetness and balance of harmony is a real skill.
When it comes to dessert wine production in Australia, De Bortoli’s Noble One has been at the top of the tree since its first vintage. Created by Darren De Bortoli in 1982, Noble One remains one of the most awarded wines in history and the benchmark of Australian Botrytis winemaking. Over 40 years on, its depth, purity and luscious complexity continue to set the standard.
The semillon fruit for the 2021 vintage was sourced from two growers and the estate vineyards. These growers have been supplying fruit to De Bortoli for Noble one for almost 40 years. Vintage conditions saw a season of two halves, rain in January and early February triggered the botrytis infection in the vineyards but there was no further rain until Easter in late March. This kept the spread of botrytis subdued. Heavy rain fell on Easter Monday and the late autumn warmth in the air spread botrytis quickly through the vineyard. Then, in haste, harvest began in the first week of April as the botrytis thrived in these conditions.
Winemaking is similar most years, with the fruit crushed and left to macerate overnight, then pressed to extract as much sugar and flavour as possible. Juice is clarified then fermentation begins, monitored closely to achieve the right balance of sweetness to acidity. Once that point is reached, fermentation is stopped and the wine is clarified and stabilised, then matured in French oak barriques and tanks for 12 months.
“A truly outstanding example of dedication to the art of dessert wine. Carries all the hallmarks of a great noble rot wine with the balance of sweetness to acidity ensuring it will satisfy the most fastidious palates now and for many years into the future. A rich golden straw hue in the glass. Heady on the nose, mango, cumquat and cooking toffee aromatics. A symphony of golden tropical fruits with balancing citrus peel freshness at the top end. Deeper down we find butterscotch and figs all being lifted by powerfully focused acidity and a pithy sense of grip that ensures prodigious length and a finish that astounds with its remarkable sense of vitality.” 97/100, Stuart Knox - The Real Review.
Click here for the winner announcement.
Sign up for offers, wine insights, food and more
