Banfi Vintners is an American company engaged in the production and distribution of wine. Founded by John F. Mariani Sr. in the

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

neighborhood of

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, in 1919, a year before

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

. The company continues to be owned by the Mariani family, with third-generation proprietor, Cristina Mariani-May, as CEO. The company is one of the largest importers of wine in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Known to world connoisseurs mainly thanks to

Brunello di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino is a red DOCG Italian wine produced in the vineyards surrounding the town of Montalcino, in the province of Siena, located about 80 km south of Florence, in the Tuscan wine region. Brunello, a diminutive of ''bruno'' ...

wines.

Story

The headquarters are located in Old Brookville, at

Rynwood The Rynwood estate, is a 51-acre estate, with a Tudor Cotswold architecture, Cotswold-style, 60-room mansion, located in the Village of Old Brookville, New York on the Gold Coast, Long Island, Gold Coast of Long Island (the home was originally pa ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. John Mariani Sr. named the company after his aunt Teodolinda Banfi, the head of the household of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. He lived with her for most of his childhood. For the first 13 years, John imported Italian delicacies into the country. Immediately after the lifting of the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages, Mariani entered into agreements with a number of Italian companies to import wine. A major alcohol expansion into this country began in 1969, when Banfi Vintners began supplying Riunite Lambrusco. For 26 years, this wine was the best-selling of those imported into the United States. Success was further enhanced by large contracts for the supply of Chilean wine. In 2011, the company acquired Pacific Rim Winemakers, which owned vineyards in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. In addition to “mass” wines, premium wines are also supplied to the American market, for example, Poggio all'Oro Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. The Banfi portfolio also includes leading organic brand, Natura, featuring a successful range of varietal wines. One of the turning points in the company's history was the purchase of 700 hectares of land in the

Montalcino Montalcino is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. The town is located to the west of Pienza, close to the Crete Senesi in Val d'Orcia. It is from Siena, from Florence and from Pisa. Monte Amiata is l ...

region in the 1970s. Two years after the purchase, the wine in this region received the

DOCG The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

category classification - the highest in the table of ranks of Italian winemaking. The company invited a commission of 20 scientists from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to study the characteristics of the

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

and determine the optimal grape varieties for planting. At that time, 650 clones of Sangiovese were registered in the world. In the first stage, the number was reduced to 150. For 20 years, the team studied them on 29 types of soil of the farm. 15 optimal clones were selected, each of which is necessary for certain purposes. Today, 45 clones of this grape variety are registered in all of Italy, a third of which belong to Banfi Vintners. In the twenty-first century, the Montalcino vineyards, located near the Banfi Castle, are the company's main production asset. They have been awarded the "Vineyard of the Year in Italy" award thirteen times. The castle grounds include a hotel. The company also owns two vineyards in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Company activities

More than 17 million bottles of wine are produced annually, which are sold in 86 countries. Two-thirds of the company's profits come from sales of the drink in America. In 2014, it employed 500 people, of whom 150 were based in the United States. The company used non-standard methods of production and distribution in winemaking. For example, for standard wine lines, lightweight bottles are used, which save 6,500 tons of material in the production of each million containers. Thanks to a specially developed irrigation system, the company's vineyards consume 80% less water than other farms. Active selective work is carried out in the company's laboratories. There is a proprietary patented garter system. Also, the Banfi vineyards have one of the highest indices of the ratio of grape plantings to forest plantings.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://banfiusa.com/ Alcoholic drink companies Companies based in New York (state) Wineries of the United States American companies established in 1919 Family-owned companies of the United States Wine brands