Brand Management Fundamentals

Abstract

Castello Banfi di Montalcino is “unique in the wine world in Tuscany and in Italy,” so we were told by the marketing director. It is a US-owned winery (owned by Banfi Products Corp.) that started in Italy in the late 1970s. Banfi Products was founded in 1919 in New York by John Mariani Sr., and focuses on the production and import of wine, helping to manage the brands of over 30 wineries. Banfi Vintners is the US importer of the Mariani family’s Italian estates and other wineries. The Mariani brothers brought the Banfi name to Italy in 1978. The winery we visited was the first one they opened of several, Castello Banfi di Montalcino. Montalcino in Tuscany is the literal heart of Brunello wine, one of the most elegant and sophisticated of Italian wines, wines that can also be some of the most expensive. Also in the region are Banfi Toscana and Banfi Piedmonte.