Spotlight on the Producer - Botter Wines
Founded by Carlo and Maria Botter near Venice in 1928, Botter is now in its fourth generation — and one in every 35 bottles of Italian wine exported to the world carries their name.
A Family Business, Four Generations Deep
The Botter story begins in the bacari — the traditional taverns — of Venice. Carlo Botter started selling wine by the barrel into these intimate neighbourhood wine bars, building relationships and a reputation in the Veneto one glass at a time. By the 1960s, Botter had moved into bottles; by the 1970s, they were exporting to neighbouring France and Switzerland. Today, a bottle of Botter wine is shipped somewhere in the world every few seconds.
That remarkable scale — 1 in every 35 bottles of Italian wine exported is from Botter, now part of the ARGEA group, Italy's largest privately owned wine company — has never come at the cost of the family character that defines the business. The fourth generation is now at the helm in the form of Samuele Botter, who joined the business in 2023 after a career in beverages with some of the world's leading brewers.
In Their Own Words
"My name is Samuele and I'm the fourth generation of this incredible wine business. The company was first founded by my great grandfather Carlo, who sold wine into the Venetian bacari. As my grandfather took over, he ventured outside the borders, into neighbouring France and Switzerland exporting not only our Veneto wines but gathering interests for other Italian grape varieties. Some of the partnerships he started still go on today.
"In the 1990s the third generation led by my father Luca took over and the business started taking on a different dimension. He brought the Botter name to the most remote corners of the world and developed rapports that went beyond trading — with these people we not only shared the global growth of Italian wines but have since then become true friends.
"For me in particular this was inspiring. I have to thank both my parents for it: the curiosity to travel the world from my mother, who's a travel journalist, and the joy of building amazing relationships along the way from my father, who now enjoys a network of friends all around the world from years of hard work."
— Samuele Botter, fourth generation
What They Make
Botter produces wines across Italy's most celebrated regions — from the Pinot Grigio and Prosecco heartlands of the Veneto, to the Primitivo and Negroamaro of Puglia in the south. Each wine is made to reflect the character of its place: the light, crisp whites of the north; the bold, sun-rich reds of the mezzogiorno. The range combines the broad reach of a major exporter with the attention to regional character that comes from decades of working closely with growers across Italy.