He was the man behind the American success of Lambrusco and Brunello di Montalcino. Harry Mariani died in Huntington, New York. The news was given by Wine Spectator. He was 78 years old. With his brother John he was honorary president of Castello Banfi, the family estate in Tuscany.
It all started with a small company that imported wine and food for Italian Americans in New York. The two brothers' father opened it in 1919 in Greenwich Village. In 1964 Harry became the president, his brother the managing director. The former was account-conscious and calm. The second was extrovert and full of ideas. The two set out to find new markets. And they came across a partisan in Milan, Walter Sacchetti, senator and 'ambassador' of the Emilian co-ops in the world. It was 1967: Comrade Spartaco convinced John Mariani to take Lambrusco to America. It was a success: 11 million cases a year, thanks to the drive of Cantine Riunite, led by Sacchetti himself. The Americans wanted 'The Italian Coca Cola', as Harry called Lambrusco, making it easier, sweeter and more sparkling. In 1983 it became the first Italian wine consumed in the States. It even ended up in cans. Then the descent.
Harry, the man who launched Brunello in the USA
Harry and John, with their coffers full thanks to Lambrusco, landed in Montalcino in the mid 1970s. Becoming from importers to producers. At the time, only 300,000 bottles of Brunello were sold, and it was an unknown quantity to US consumers (the last vintage on the market, 2010, exceeded 9.2 million bottles). The Mariani's oenologist, Ezio Rivella, recounted in his book Io e Brunello (Baldini Castoldi Dalai) that the area where Castello Banfi was to be built was 'desolate'. Harry wanted large spaces and Rivella bought 'at derisory prices', 2,830 hectares, 850 of which were planted with Sangiovese and Moscadello, and Giovanni Mastropaolo's medieval castle.
The winery, opened with a Hollywood party, was capable of producing twice as much as all the other Montalcino winemakers put together. The initial hostility ('make sweet wine for the Americans') disappeared when the million bottles of Castello Banfi consecrated the launch of Brunello in the world. Now Montalcino has lost a piece of its 20th century history.
(Source:Â divini.corriere.it)
