Est. 1978 
23 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Accommodation
Booking required 
Estate tour with tasting
A guided walk through the cellars at Poggio alle Mura followed by a tasting of Banfi wines, including Brunello di Montalcino. Around one hour, starting from the estate enoteca.
Book this experienceCastello Banfi
Castello Banfi sits on the southern slopes of Montalcino, in the province of Siena, where around 800 hectares of vineyard surround the medieval Castello di Poggio alle Mura. It is one of Montalcino's largest estates, built on Brunello di Montalcino, the Sangiovese that made this corner of Tuscany famous. Wine sits alongside a full hospitality programme here: guided tastings and tours from the enoteca, two restaurants under the castle, and rooms within its walls.
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Tuscany
- Est. 1978
- 23 wines
- Tastings
- Tours
- Accommodation
- Booking required
Wines from Castello Banfi
Experiences at Castello Banfi
Bookable experiences, curated by our editors. External booking where marked.
Estate tour with lunch
The estate tour followed by a sit-down lunch at La Taverna, the winery's traditional Tuscan restaurant under the castle, with wines paired to the menu.
Book this experienceDiscovering Excellence private tour
A private tour of about two and a half hours, tasting five of the estate's top wines alongside its olive oil and balsamic, then a four-course lunch at La Taverna. An upgraded version adds a five- or seven-course dinner at the Michelin-starred Sala dei Grappoli.
Book this experienceEstate tour with tasting
A guided walk through the cellars at Poggio alle Mura followed by a tasting of Banfi wines, including Brunello di Montalcino. Around one hour, starting from the estate enoteca.
Book this experienceAbout Castello Banfi
The estate dates to 1978, when the Italian-American brothers John and Harry Mariani, whose family had imported Italian wine in the United States since 1919, set out to build a Sangiovese estate in Montalcino with the oenologist Ezio Rivella. In 1983 they acquired the fourteenth-century Castello di Poggio alle Mura and restored it as the heart of the property. The winery is still owned by the Mariani family, now into its third generation under Cristina Mariani-May.
Banfi is large by Montalcino standards. The estate covers around 2,830 hectares on the warmer southern side of the appellation, of which roughly 800 are planted to vines; the rest is woodland, olive groves and other crops. Sangiovese is the centre of gravity, joined by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay on sites chosen to suit each variety.
Much of what Banfi is known for began as research. From the early 1980s the estate ran a clonal-selection and zoning programme on Sangiovese, matching specific clones to specific parcels, work that fed directly into its Brunello. In 2007 it built a winemaking hall of hybrid vats that combine oak and steel, and in 2017 the Banfi Foundation opened Sanguis Jovis, a school dedicated entirely to Sangiovese.
The range runs from the flagship Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, including the single-vineyard Poggio alle Mura and the Poggio all'Oro Riserva, down through Rosso di Montalcino DOC and a set of Tuscan IGT reds such as SummuS, Excelsus and Cum Laude. Banfi also makes Chianti Classico DOCG from a separate estate to the north. Its standard Brunello was named Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year with the 1994 vintage, and in 2024 the estate ranked twenty-second on the World's Best Vineyards list.
Sustainability here is formalised rather than implied. Banfi holds Equalitas certification at both organisation and product level, and Poggio all'Oro 2016 was the first Brunello di Montalcino to earn the Equalitas product mark. For visitors, the castle anchors an enoteca, the fine-dining Sala dei Grappoli and the more rustic Taverna, the Il Borgo relais, and a bottle-and-glass museum, which makes a visit here as much about the place as the wine.
Visiting Castello Banfi
Editorially verified by ItalianWines.co.uk.
Tastings
Available
Tours
Available
Accommodation
Available
Booking
Required
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Plate I · TUSCANY
Castello Banfi on the Tuscany wine atlas
What Castello Banfi makes
Castello Banfi's current bottle selection is led by Toscana IGT. The clearest grape signal comes from Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Denominations
Multiple varieties permitted
Key grapes
Common questions
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Yes. Castello Banfi runs guided tastings and tours from its enoteca at Poggio alle Mura, ranging from a one-hour estate tour and tasting to private experiences that include lunch or a Michelin-starred dinner. Visits are by advance reservation.
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