The Bonotto family has been making wine for as long as anyone can remember. But their renowned Le Contesse winery was officially founded in 1976 when Bonotto, with the help of his father's life savings, purchased a property in Treviso province once owned by the Tiepolo countesses, one of the area's most famous families and the inspiration for the winery's name — le Contesse (literally, "the countesses"). After completing his degree at the Center for Experimental Viticulture in the city of