Count Brandino Brandolini certainly manages to keep busy.

President of Chateau Greysac in the Medoc…owner of Venetian wine bar Naranzaria…proprietor of a 19th-century villa and world-famous gardens…avid fan of wife Marie’s contemporary Venetian blown glass designs…father of three young boys – he takes it all in stride.

But Brandolini’s true passion is revealed in his role as owner and winemaker at his family’s historic Vistorta estate in northeast Italy’s Friuli region, just 25 miles north of Venice.

This down-to-earth, Venetian-born graduate of Texas A&M and the University of Bordeaux took the helm at Vistorta in the 1980s. Influenced by his experience in Bordeaux and recognizing the outstanding potential of his family’s estate vineyards (planted with Merlot for over a century), Brandolini set out to produce a world-class red wine from Vistorta.

Working with his close friend and colleague Georges Pauli, winemaker at Chateau Gruaud-Larose and consultant to a number of leading Bordeaux properties, Brandolini implemented a series of radical improvements at the estate. Using select Merlot clones from Bordeaux alongside his existing Merlot vines, Brandolini implemented a system of high-density planting in Vistorta’s well-drained, limestone-rich vineyards. Here, protective mountain ranges to the north and west combine with the moderating influence of the Adriatic Sea to create a superb microclimate for the cultivation of outstanding Merlot grapes. Now, 20 years later, Vistorta enjoys a reputation as one of northeast Italy’s most sought-after red wines.

In addition to Vistorta, Brandolini also owns the 325-acre Cordignano estate in the nearby province of Treviso, where he produces varietal wines from Tocai, Refosco, Merlot and Pinot Grigio.

The Vistorta estate, in the Brandolini family since 1780, includes a magnificent 19th-century villa, set amid a landscaped park and gardens. Within Venice, directly on the Grand Canal, is the family’s wine bar Naranzaria, a meeting place cherished by locals and visitors alike. Brandolini's wife presides over her own artisanal Murano glass company, Laguna B, whose fine hand-blown Venetian glass is highly esteemed by collectors. The Brandolinis, along with their three sons and dog Gypsy, divide their time between the family villa in Friuli and their home on Venice’s Grand Canal.