Banfi, new governance, with Cristina Mariani-May increasingly protagonist, to look to the future

For Banfi, a winery created by the Italian-American Mariani family in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and which has marked the commercial and communicative success of Brunello di Montalcino, starting right in the U.S., a new page opens, with Cristina Mariani-May, the winery's third generation, more and more the protagonist of the Banfi of the future, and at the head of a governance renewed and redefined in roles, with the aim of increasingly uniting the Italian and American souls of the company, with an indispensable step to sustain the company's leadership and continue on the path of cultural continuity and family ownership.
In detail, as of January 10, Enrico Viglierchio, in addition to retaining his role as the group’s general manager, assumes the position of chairman of the board of Banfi Società Agricola srl. In his new role he becomes responsible for the agricultural, oenological and production sectors. Joining him as vice chairman is Gabriele Mazzi, cfo of both Banfi srl and Banfi Società Agricola srl, as well as Cristina Mariani-May, Philip Calderone and Jason Arfin. Rodolfo Maralli was appointed chairman of the board of Banfi srl and, in addition to his new position, will continue in his role as director of sales and marketing, external communications and press relations. Enrico Viglierchio, Gabriele Mazzi and Elizabeth Koenig, newly appointed hospitality director of Castello Banfi Wine Resort, were appointed vice presidents of the company. Cristina Mariani-May, Philip Calderone and Jason Arfin are the other board members.
Prominent in the new governance model is the creation of an “executive committee”, with functions of strategic planning and medium- to long-term direction, which, chaired by Cristina Mariani-May, will include members of the two boards of directors: all to reiterate the ultimate goal of this organizational journey: the integration of the two souls, Italian and American, and the drive toward innovation and change. “My thanks go to the entire Banfi team, for the path we have taken and, above all”, said Cristina Mariani-May, “for the bright future we still have to write. Warm thanks also go to Remo Grassi for his more than 40 years of passion and dedication in our company. The new organization projects us toward a new way of working together, as one company, to meet and win the challenges of the future: for a better wine world”.
A new course opens, then, in the sign of continuity, for one of the leading realities of Brunello di Montalcino, of Italian wine and not only. Because Banfi, in addition to being a great winery, an important distributor of wine at the Italian level and especially in the U.S., a high-level accommodation facility, in the Relaix & Chateaux circuit, complete with a starred restaurant, La Sala dei Grappoli, at its core, is increasingly a 360-degree farm, capable of producing excellence that goes beyond wine. Because we are talking about a reality with a 2022 turnover of around 68 million euros, with almost 400 employees, wines present in 100 countries around the world, with almost 3,000 hectares of land owned between Tuscany (mainly in Montalcino, but also passing through Chianti Classico, Bolgheri and beyond) and Piedmont, of which more than 1. 000 planted with vines, most of which are being converted to organic, and more than 450 hectares of different crops, in Montalcino, including Cappelli variety wheat, from which a very high quality pasta is produced, and spelt, both in organic, and again olive trees, not forgetting 100 hectares for plum production, of which it is among the leaders in Italy, honey production and so on. A kind of “modern farm”, whose centerpiece is great wine, but around which a much more complex ecosystem revolves. And which, after having decisively marked the recent past of the Montalcino area, is ready to write a piece of its future.