The “Women in Wine & Spirits International Award” went to Cristina Mariani May

The aim of the “Women in Wine & Spirits International Award” is to acknowledge, connect and honor the women who have contributed to shaping the wine and beverage sector. It is a recently created Asian-style award that has partnerships throughout the world (including the Italian Wine Association, ed.). This is the second edition (following the 2020 edition award that went to Marilisa Allegrini, the “lady” of Amarone della Valpolicella and others, at the Allegrini winery), awarded to Italy, and the interesting story of Cristina Mariani May, at the helm of Castello Banfi, the winery the American Mariani family founded in Montalcino in the nineteen seventies. The winery gave a significant impetus, together with the work of the manager-enologist, Ezio Rivella, to the success of Brunello di Montalcino in the United States and all over the world.
“The award given to Cristina Mariani-May”, explained a note, “ acknowledges her capability in driving Banfi’s corporate social responsibility”. And especially concerning sustainability, which is “a very important and dear issue to the Montalcino Company that has always been committed to modern and sustainable practices”. The wine company has for quite a long time also initiated a path to diversify agricultural biodiversity in the territory, producing plums, as it is one of the largest producers in Italy, but also antique grains, pasta, oil, honey, prunes, and many others.
Cristina Mariani May shares the “Women in Wine & Spirits International Award” with other great women in the wine world, such as Laura Catena, at the helm of one of the most important wine companies in Argentina, Catena Zapata, as well as Maria Vargas, from the Spanish winery “Marqués de Murrieta”, awarded also “Wine maker of the year”, to mention just a few.