Castello Banfi was founded in 1978 thanks to the will of the Italian-American brothers, John and Harry Mariani. From the beginning, the goal of the two brothers was to create a state-of-the-art winery combined with the most advanced science in the vineyards for the production of premium wines. Together with the Mariani family, Ezio Rivella, one of Italy's foremost enologists, who understood that due to the richness of the soils and the privileged microclimatic position, the property would have great capacity of development.
In those years, the brothers, John and Harry, also purchased Bruzzone, a historic winery in Piedmont. Founded in 1860 and specialized in the production of sparkling wines, today is known as Banfi Piemonte.
The Castello Banfi estate extends to the south of Montalcino, to the borders of the Val d’Orcia. Of the 7,100 acres of land, about one third is under vine in a constellation of single vineyards, the remainder occupied by olive groves, fruit trees (mainly plums), woods and scrub.
The wines of Banfi are born of a passion and love for unique terroirs, from continuous research, and from the intimate knowledge of different territories and the ability to marry time tested and respected techniques with innovative solutions in both the vineyard and the winery. The splendid vineyards of Montalcino and Chianti, of Piedmont and the Tuscan coast, are the ideal cradle for wines of great character and outstanding quality. In recent years, Banfi has grown significantly its range of wines. Exclusive for Italy, in addition to distribution of its own wines from Tuscany, as well as from Piedmont, were added Concha y Toro, one of the most renowned wineries of Chile in the world, and Emiliana, known and appreciated worldwide for its organic and biodynamic wines. For the Italian market, Banfi also distributes the prestigious Sicilian Palari wines and the fine Joseph Perrier Champagne. Recently the portfolio was enriched with two new jewels: from Washington state the Pacific Rim Riesling and from Oregon the Rainstorm Pinot Noir.