Harry Mariani, founder with his brother John of the Banfi winery in Montalcino, died on 5 January in Huntington (NY) at the age of 78. He was born in New York on 21 January 1937.

Farewell to Harry Mariani

In the Seventies and Eighties of the last century, the two brothers had the intuition to import Lambrusco from Cantine Riunite, which soon became a fixed presence on American tables, so much so that in 1983, with 11 million cases, it became the number one imported wine in the US. Thanks to this commercial success, Harry and John wanted to invest in Italy and entrusted themselves to Ezio Rivella who, in 1977, bought almost 2000 hectares in Montalcino, giving rise to an unrepeatable deal in terms of the amount of capital that Castello Banfi represents.

The new Italo-American company was ideally placed for the diffusion of Brunello, until then little known, in the US market. Success that was to come in the mid-1990s.

Harry has always been the mind behind all administrative, sales and marketing activities of the company, contributing to the transformation of Banfi Products Corp from a small family business in upstate New York to one of America's largest wine importing companies.

Mariani leaves behind his wife Anne, his daughters Ginny Kitt and Katy Goodrich, and his son James, who together with Cristina Mariani-May, John's daughter and Harry's granddaughter, runs Banfi.

(Source: Tre Bicchieri of 07-01-2016, edited by Andrea Gabbrielli)

The world of Italian and American wine bids farewell to one of its great protagonists and pioneers: Harry Mariani, who, with his brother John, founded (in 1978) one of the most important wine companies in Italy, has passed away at the age of 78, Castello Banfi (with the fundamental work of Ezio Rivella, a project that today continues under the guidance of Cristina and James Mariani, John and Harry's children, with the property firmly in the hands of the Italo-American family, ed, and then in the world, also thanks to the success achieved by the Mariani family between 1970 and the 1980s with the importation into the States of Lambrusco wine from Cantine Riunite, effectively beginning the "love story" between Italian wines and American consumers. An official note from Banfi itself spread the news.

The wine world of Italy and America salute Harry Mariani

"My father made a great contribution to the wine culture and trade, especially in his early years when professional wine management was nowhere near as developed as it is today, and this expanded the opportunities for consumers to try and enjoy a good bottle of wine, especially from Italy," commented his son James Mariani, co-CEO of Banfi Vintners (the company that exclusively imports all of the group's wines into the US), and who co-owns the company with Cristina Mariani-May, Harry's granddaughter and John's daughter.

Harry Mariani (who together with his brother John has been Banfi's honorary president until today), a graduate of Colgate University (New York), joined Banfi Vintners at the end of the 1950s, coordinated the administrative, commercial and marketing activities, and soon became president of the company. Harry and John joined forces only a year after acquiring the Tuscan property of Castello Banfi, and then broadened their horizons even further by also taking over the historic Piedmontese winery Bruzzone, which has now become Banfi Piemonte.

One of those personalities, perhaps less often in the limelight than others, who made an important contribution to the success of Italian wine in the US and the world. The funeral is scheduled for 13 January in New York, and at the same time a mass and commemoration will be celebrated in the Church of the Castello di Poggio alle Mura di Banfi, in Montalcino.

(Source: winenews.co.uk/)