Wine: a life, a destiny. If we had to find some words to define Gianluca Bisol, president and General Manager of Bisol in S. Stefano di Valdobbiadene (Treviso), they would be inspiration and vision. These talents helped him to innovate a 20 generations-winery, to which he gave a new international destiny. Since its first bottle of Prosecco sold in 1989 in London, when Prosecco was not known abroad. Since then his “mission” is to bring the white wine from Treviso in all countries of the world�

How was your passion for wine born?
Wine is a family tradition. When I was young, I was involved in the activities in the vineyard and in the cellar, or I followed my dad visiting customers. In my world there has always been a lot of wine. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I would grow up, I said: ” I will sell wine around the world”.

When did you join the family business?
When I joined the company 28 years ago, Prosecco was known only in Veneto and Lombardy. In this reality, I wanted to bring my contribution that was to bring the Prosecco abroad. I brought the first bottle of Prosecco ever in London. Today Britain is the first market for Prosecco. It was not easy, but results have come.

Can you tell us an episode related to your early experiences abroad?
When I arrived in England Prosecco was still totally unknown. In 1989 England lived a big recession. No importer wanted to add new wines to his list. I knocked on every door and received many “no, thanks”. Finally I met a Venetian who lived in London, selling Italian gourmet products and had a big reputation among restaurateurs.
He introduced me to the great Italian chefs in London. I started with three important restaurants as Cecconi’s, Italian Bar and Carluccio’s (an Italian chef most beloved by British people, frequently on the BBC). The first years I traveled a lot to London and I spent more than I earned. Perseverance paid off.�

If you had to explain Prosecco to a person who does not know it…
20 years ago a journalist asked me what Prosecco is and I said: “it’s like having in your garage a Bentley and a convertible BMW.”
Prosecco is a sparkling wine that has the same feeling of celebration of Champagne, but with a less status symbol approach. It�s the symbol of a casual, elegant and smart lifestyle. They are two complementary wines, statistics say in fact that Prosecco increased sales not at the expense of Champagne.

Which definition would you give to your wines?
Quality with a tradition of centuries, since 1500 there are winemakers in my family. Quality of a territory, we have vines in the most prestigious areas of