With Stefano Bollani the curtain rises on Jazz & Wine 2021 in Montalcino. Next Tuesday, 20 July, in the marvellous Tuscan village, the 24th edition of the festival kicks off, a collaboration between the Banfi winery, the Rubei family of the Alexanderplatz Jazz Club in Rome and the Municipality of Montalcino. 

Hosting the opening concert is the evocative Fortezza di Montalcino, which becomes the stage for STEFANO BOLLANI Trio. The versatile pianist, eclectic artist and genius returns to Jazz & Wine after 13 years of absence in the company of Bernardo Guerra on drums and Gabriele Evangelista on double bass. Together they will give life to a unique concert where the only rule is to have fun improvising. A journey that embraces all music, that knows no genres or superstructures, in which the three instruments come together to create a new and extraordinary musical world each evening.

The programme of Jazz & Wine 2021

The festival, whose artistic direction is signed by Paolo Rubei (Alexanderplatz Jazz Club in Rome), then continues until 25 July with other sensational musicians showcasing the best of Italian genius.

On Wednesday 21 July, Jazz & Wine moves to Castello Banfi: starring STEFANO DI BATTISTA with his "Morricone Stories", a heartfelt tribute to Ennio Morricone, one of the masters who brought Italian genius to the world. A project that seals the perfect marriage between jazz and film music and that sees saxophonist Stefano Di Battista joined by pianist Fred Nardin, double bassist Daniele Sorrentino and drummer André Ceccarelli.

Also in the marvellous Banfi Castle will be the appointment on Thursday 22 July with 'Improvvisazione di piano solo', the show in which DANILO REA, one of Italy's greatest pianists, will range from the cornerstones of jazz, through Italian songs, to opera arias, projecting the audience into a world whose paths are yet to be discovered.

Swing, swing and more swing: EMANUELE URSO, the 'King of Swing' with the SESTETTO SWING DI ROMA (Emanuele Urso, clarinet/drums/direction; Claudio Piselli, vibraphone; Emanuele Rizzo, piano; Fabrizio Guarino, guitar; Alessio Urso, double bass; Giovanni Cicchirillo, drums) will arrive at the Montalcino Fortress on Friday 23 July. A journey that starts with the American sounds of the 1940s and arrives at the major composers of American pop music (G. Gershwin, J. Kern, C. Porter, I. Berlin, B. Goodman) and that benefits from the presence of an exceptional special guest LORENZO SORIANO(trumpet).

The combination of music and cinema will be the protagonist of the event on Saturday 24 July, when, on the stage of the Montalcino Fortress, the OBSERVATORIUM ORCHESTRA composed of some of the best Italian jazz musicians and conducted by MASSIMO NUNZI (trumpet, conducting and arrangements) will propose "Jazz in Cinemascope", a concert that will explore the scores of some very famous films, allowing the audience to listen to music of great complexity, rarely performed.

The 24th edition of Jazz & Wine in Montalcino closes on Sunday 25 July with the guitar of ALEX BRITTI, who will bring his extraordinary talent to the Montalcino Fortress in a show that will revisit his repertoire in a more intimate, elegant and pressing key at the same time. With him on stage FLAVIO BOLTRO, eclectic and refined trumpeter. A meeting between two complicit and close-knit musicians for a project under the banner of improvisation with a blues and jazz flavour, enriched by the talent of Davide Savarese on drums, Emanuele Brignola on bass and Mario Fanizzi on piano and keyboards.

With the 2016 harvest, Banfi's Brunello di Montalcino family is enriched with a new label, Vigna Marrucheto.

The Banfi estate, which occupies an area of almost 3,000 hectares in a single body, has exceptional variability: vineyards, olive groves, orchards, lush woods, wheat and spelt fields, a true paradise of biodiversity.

And here, on the gentle slopes of the hills, Sangiovese finds its ideal habitat, in a perfect synergy between soil, exposure and man's work, the myth of Brunello di Montalcino is born.

Vigna Marrucheto

The newly born Vigna Marrucheto (12,000 bottles), produced from three parcels of the vineyard of the same name (about 10 hectares), located in the south-eastern area of the estate, is rooted in the numerous studies carried out since the beginning within the Banfi estate, from those on zoning, to clonal selection, to the development of the Banfi Alberello training system. More than forty years of Banfi's experience dedicated to expressing and enhancing the diversity of each terroir on the estate find their fulfilment in the Brunello 'Vigna' project.

Twenty-nine different terroirs were identified thanks to the company's zoning, the primary objective of which was to make the most of each individual area of the estate.

Terroir, a French term that with just one word, tells us that a wine is the child not only of the grapes, but of the environment in which the grapes ripen.

Soil, therefore, but also light, breezes, altitude create in each vineyard a small world totally different from the adjacent one. And the work done in the vineyard continues in the cellar.

Here, the grapes from each individual vineyard are processed separately and the ageing process is also carried out separately, offering the possibility to taste the different peculiarities of each vineyard in the glass.

Wine characteristics

Elegant and refined, in the glass it has an intense ruby red colour.

Endowed with great sensory complexity, in which notes of ripe red plums and white peaches stand out, it has a full, vibrant body, supported by excellent acidity, with silky tannins and a well-balanced, very persistent finish.

Starting in June, the new communication for Centine, one of the most representative wines of Banfi production, will be on air. A strategic project, articulated and full of initiatives, aimed at spreading the value and importance of the Centine brand, relaunching it as an authoritative brand through an innovative and impactful creative concept.

"Centine has contributed to Banfi's history, renewing itself over time and always remaining central to our portfolio, fully expressing the Banfi philosophy: excellent value for money, transversal consumption, omnichannel distribution. This is why we decided to work on a project to relaunch the brand, starting this new path with Mosquito, the communication agency led by Vincenzo Vigo," says Rodolfo Maralli, Banfi's Sales&Marketing Director.

Hundreds' new communication campaign kicks off

The creativity reaffirms, with an original and striking language, both the great versatility and the authentically Tuscan roots of Centine. The bottle bursts across the background of Tuscan landscapes, and on the neck of the bottle we see numerous consumption occasions represented, with different targets each time. The landscapes, realised with a treatment between the photographic and the pictorial, add authority, preciousness and tradition to a wine of noble birth, but within reach of all budgets.

The claim that seals the creativity, 'Stop every moment' summarises Centine's ability to combine with a variety of recipes and make every occasion special, suggesting a less frenetic approach compared to contemporary lifestyles that, often, do not leave enough room for quality time.

The integrated communication campaign includes, in addition to an advertising plan in the main national media, the complete redesign of the Centine website (ribs.wine), a social media strategy, with the creation of dedicated Facebook and Instagram profiles (@CentineOfficial), and the use of branded podcasts.

"We are happy and proud to have been chosen by Banfi as their partner. This is a brand that has demonstrated a vision that is often ahead of its time and has extraordinary potential," says Vincenzo Vigo, creative director of the project and founder of Mosquito. The online creativity and restyling of the site were developed in collaboration with Wacky Weapon, a dynamic Turin-based company.

The fifth edition of the Banfi Sustainability Reportfor the financial year 2020 is finally available as of today.

The leitmotif of this edition is respect. "An important, authentic and emblematic value of our journey, which belongs to us from the very beginning and which tells us of a balanced and productive relationship with the territory that hosts us and of a genuine interaction with the people with with which we collaborate and with the institutions with which we dialogue on a daily basis,' reads the letter from the territory, where the three presidents (Enrico Viglierchio - Banfi S.r.l., Remo Grassi - Banfi Società Agricola S.r.l., Rodolfo Maralli - Fondazione Banfi) introduce the reading of the document.

Banfi and the Sustainability Report 2020

"We decided to publish the 2020 Sustainability Report on the occasion of World Earth Day," says Cristina Mariani-May, CEO of Banfi, "to reinforce the important message we wish to share with the territory, as well as with the entire wine sector. The year 2020, strongly marked by the still ongoing pandemic crisis, has literally disrupted our production processes, our strategies, our business results, our lives. This particularly significant edition sees us proudly reinforce our commitment to sustainable growth. Sustainability is not a trend, nor is it an option'.

The Sustainability Report 2020, for the first time, underwent dilimited assurance in accordance with the ISAE 3000 Revised standard. The audit, entrusted to PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory S.p.A., a leading company operating in the auditing and business consulting sector, certifies the adherence of the document's contents to the guidelines adopted for its drafting and takes the form of document collection activities, interviews with the management responsible for drafting the report, in-depth thematic investigations, checks on the calculations made and sample checks.

On Sustainability Report 2020 is available on Banfi's website, at the following link:

https://www.www.banfi.it/it/sostenibilita/

Traversa dei Monti is the new Banfi signature wine, a Chianti DOCG with a Montalcino soul.

Made entirely from the traditional Chianti varieties, with a strong predominance of Sangiovese, from the estate's Montalcino vineyards, the heart of the traditional Chianti territory, it boasts the sub-zone COLLI SENESI.

Traversa dei Monti, the new Chianti Colli Senesi by Banfi

The name of the wine, Traversa dei Montiimmediately leads us back to the road that connects Montalcino to the Maremma coast, also skirting the Banfi vineyards.

Even the label is evocative of the place where the wine is born. The Traversa dei Monti, in gold foil, traverses the vineyards that give the perception of earth to the touch, enhancing the luminosity and richness of our territory.

Elegant and assertive, the wine has a deep, intense mauve red colour. The nose is complex and intense, with aromas of ripe fruit and morello cherry accompanied by hints of dried flowers and spicy notes. Enveloping, soft and powerful, with a remarkable structure, it closes with a long and persistent finish.

Now in its fourth edition, La Pettegola's project with an author's label.

On Vermentino di Banfiproduced since 2012, for the past four years has, in fact, had a Limited Edition version (only fifteen thousand bottles) with the label reinterpreted by an artist. An association with design that, year after year, is strengthened thanks to collaborations with internationally renowned artists and designers.

Designer label for the Limited Edition of La Pettegola

Designing the Limited Edition 2021 of La Pettegola is, for the first time, a woman: Elena Salmistraro. Designer and artist, she lives and works in Milan. She graduated from Milan Polytechnic and founded her own studio in 2009. She collaborates as a designer and illustrator with many companies in the creative industry. Attention to detail, harmony of form and poetic style characterise her creations, a mixture of art and design: the search for the expressive language of the object, which can fascinate people by evoking emotions, is a priority in her work. His designs have been selected for several international exhibitions. In 2017, he won the 'Salone del Mobile Milano Award' as 'Best Newcomer Designer'. Since 2107, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has appointed her as Ambassador of Italian design in the world. In 2018, she was appointed Ambassador of Brera Design District.

The gossip often brings to mind female gossip, but the gossip is also a little bird that lives along the Maremma coast. And it is precisely on this ambivalence of the meaning of the name of Banfi Vermentino that Elena Salmistraro plays to reinterpret the label: 'La Pettegola for Banfi is the witty and amusing name of a little bird, typical of the Tuscan coast, which I imagined to be cunning and singing.

That is why I enjoyed portraying a young, colourful but thoughtful-looking girl, completely immersed in listening to the cheerful and festive song of the Gossip. The bright colours and rigid shapes, all typical elements of my artistic language, enhance the jovial and convivial atmosphere that characterises the joyful moment of the toast, made even more carefree thanks to the chirping of the lively bird. The song of the Pettegola thus becomes the perfect soundtrack for a cheerful evening in company while enjoying a glass of the wine that bears her name'.

Previous editions:

• 2018: Alessandro Baronciani
• 2019: Ale Giorgini
• 2020: Riccardo Guasco

From today Castello Banfi is officially among the 9 new associates from around the world who have joined the prestigious Relais & Châteauthe association of luxury hotels and restaurants.

Relais & Châteaux

Founded in 1954, Relais & Châteaux is an association of 580 unique hotels and restaurants around the world, owned and managed by independent entrepreneurs - in most cases, families - united by a passion for their craft and a desire to establish an authentic bond with their guests.

The Association's Italian Residences, which boast their own wine production that captures and conveys the history, passion and culture of the region that hosts them, with the addition of Castello Banfi have become eight in total.

"With its restaurants, Enoteca and Balsameria, the Borgo offers guests the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the oenological and culinary traditions of Tuscany. In Relais & Châteaux, we have found a network of families and entrepreneurs moved by our same love for the land, and the desire to tell and share it with our guests"- comments Cristina Mariani-May, CEO & Owner.

Alberto Lazzarino, the historic and charismatic oenologist director of Banfi Piemonte in Strevi (AL), sadly passed away prematurely, at the end of a brief but unrelenting illness.

Alberto, born in 1963, was born in Turin and after graduating as an oenologist at the Scuola Enologica di Alba and some work experience at the Fratelli Martini company and the Cantina Sociale di Maranzana, he joined the Banfi family in 2002, linking his name and talent to some of the group's most beautiful and significant projects.

Always active at an institutional level in the consortia of the territory, he was also President of the Piedmont Section of Assoenologi.

The memory of Alberto Lazzarino

His passion, his rigour and his ability to combine curiosity with competence, together with an innate optimism and a smile that never abandoned him, even in the hardest hours of his illness, will forever be in the memories of those who knew and esteemed him, as well as a lesson and guide for those who will continue, in Strevi as well as in Montalcino, to carry on his work and his projects.

With its Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mura Riserva 2013 receiving the Quattro Viti award in Vitae 2020, the guide of the Italian Sommelier Association, Banfi receives the prestigious TASTEVINthe award that honours a select group of only twenty-two companies, one from each Italian region.

The award ceremony took place on Friday 25 October, during the preview presentation of the guide reserved for the press, in the setting of the Nuvola, the Roman structure designed by internationally renowned architect Massimiliano Fuksas.

Cristiano Cini, President of AIS Toscana, said during the award ceremony: 'This is recognition of the great work carried out by Banfi, since its inception, in and for the territory of Montalcino, as well as for its symbolic wine, Brunello. A work carried out with constancy and great attention to the values of sustainability, in all its aspects, from the environmental to the social and economic one'.

Sustainability

That of the sustainability is a theme that is very dear to Banfi, which, during the round table on Friday 18 October, organised for the presentation of the fourth issue of the Sustainability Report for the 2018 financial year, took the opportunity to discuss sustainable development, with a view to sharing it with the entire territory, for a common growth and to understand whether the Sustainability Report can be a fundamental tool for the enhancement of the territory.

This is an important recognition for the Montalcino winery and the Mariani family who, only a few months ago, had received the 'Wine Family of the Year' award at the Meininger 'Excellence in Wine & Spirit' Awards in Düsseldorf.

On stage, together with the President of AIS Italia, Antonello Maietta, the President of AIS Toscana and the Head of the Guide for Tuscany, Leonardo Taddei, presenting the award in the hands of Cristina Mariani-May, representative of the third generation family owner of Banfi, was the Director of Winenews, Alessandro Regoli.

The words of Cristina Mariani-May

Cristina Mariani-May, said: 'I am very honoured and proud to be here today to receive this very prestigious award. It is a recognition of our dedication and our love for the Montalcino territory. It is our responsibility for this territory and for all that it represents, that it has represented for centuries and will continue to represent for hundreds of years to come. On behalf of myself and my father John, I express my heartfelt thanks to the entire Italian Sommelier Association that has done, and is doing, so much for Italian wine. I would also like to add my thanks to the Banfi team for the work done over these forty years at my family's side'.

On Friday 18 October, the round table organised for the presentation of the Banfi Sustainability Report 2018It was an opportunity to discuss sustainable development, with a view to sharing it with the entire territory, for common growth and to understand whether the Sustainability Report can be a fundamental tool for the enhancement of the territory.

Presentation of the 2018 Sustainability Report

The initial greetings of Banfi's Director, Dr. Enrico Viglierchio, were followed by the speech of Dr. Stefano Scardocchia, head of Banfi's Sustainability Report, who gave a brief history of the sustainable path taken by the Ilcinese company. Then it was the turn of Dr. Gaia Giussani, who brought the testimony of PwC, whose support Banfi relies on for the preparation of its Sustainability Report: 'It is important that a company like Banfi has started this path for a long time now, but it would be a fundamental step, I would say almost natural, for it to reach the reporting of the entire territory.

A brief greeting from the Deputy Mayor of Montalcino, Angelo Braconi, followed by the words of Dr. Alessandro Regoli, Director of Winenews. Regoli retraced the history of the Montalcino territory, dwelling on some basic concepts, such as terroir and the importance of the Brunello-Montalcino binomial, and launching, with his words, a very important message: "Past, present and future: the past is history, what made us become what we are today, the future is in the union of all the wineries, in a total synergy of territory, where everyone is necessary and indispensable."

Greetings from the President of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino

The message was reinforced by the greeting of the President of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, Fabrizio Bindocci, who reminded everyone of the importance of working together, and anticipating the words of Prof. Simone Bastianoni: 'The province of Siena has been carbon free since 2011, and one of the main reasons why it has been able to achieve this result is precisely the enormous size of the wooded area of the municipality of Montalcino, with its 12,000 hectares.

After the speech of the Hon. Paolo De Castro, who brought his testimony from the European Parliament, Dr. Gennaro Giliberti said 'The Region of Tuscany has made sustainability in agriculture its core business. The only way to achieve the highest standards of sustainability is to innovate'.

The speech by the Hon. Filippo Gallinella, with the Government's commitment to increasingly support environmental, social and economic sustainability, concluded the morning.

Participants Round Table (moderated by Ms Virginia Masoni of Confindustria Toscana Sud):

• Dr. Enrico Viglierchio - General Manager Banfi
• Dr. Gaia Giussani - PWC, Senior Manager
• Hon. Filippo Gallinella - President XIII Commission for Agriculture
• Prof. Simone Bastianoni - Full Professor of Chemistry of the Environment and Cultural Heritage at the University of Siena
• Dr. Gennaro Giliberti - Tuscany Region, Head of Agricultural, Plant, Animal Production and Promotion