Est. 1978 
25 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Accommodation
Booking required 
Wine area
Montalcino
A single hilltop south of Siena where Sangiovese is bottled alone as Brunello.
Castello Banfi
Castello Banfi sits on the southern slopes of Montalcino, in the province of Siena. Around 800 hectares of vines, about 1,100 football pitches, surround the medieval Castello di Poggio alle Mura. It is one of Montalcino's largest estates. Its base is Brunello di Montalcino, the Sangiovese wine that made this corner of Tuscany famous. Wine is only part of the visit. There are guided tastings and tours from the estate wine shop. Two restaurants sit under the castle, and there are rooms within its walls.
-
Tuscany
- Est. 1978
- 25 wines
- Tastings
- Tours
- Accommodation
- Booking required
Wines from Castello Banfi
About Castello Banfi
The estate dates to 1978 and the Italian-American brothers John and Harry Mariani. Their family had imported Italian wine into the United States since 1919. With the oenologist Ezio Rivella, they set out to build a Sangiovese estate in Montalcino. In 1983 they bought the fourteenth-century Castello di Poggio alle Mura. They restored it as the heart of the property. The Mariani family still owns the winery, now in its third generation under Cristina Mariani-May.
Banfi is large by Montalcino standards. The whole property covers around 2,830 hectares on the warmer southern side of the appellation. That is nearly 4,000 football pitches. Vines take up less than a third of it. The rest is woodland, olive groves and other crops. Sangiovese is the centre of gravity. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay grow on sites chosen to suit each grape.
Much of what Banfi is known for began as research. From the early 1980s the estate matched individual Sangiovese clones to individual plots. That work fed straight into its Brunello. In 2007 it built a winemaking hall of hybrid vats that mix oak and steel. In 2017 the Banfi Foundation opened Sanguis Jovis, a school given over entirely to Sangiovese.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG leads the range. The single-vineyard Poggio alle Mura and the Poggio all'Oro Riserva sit at the top. Rosso di Montalcino DOC follows, then Tuscan IGT reds such as SummuS, Excelsus and Cum Laude. Banfi also makes Chianti Classico DOCG from a separate estate to the north. The standard Brunello was Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year with the 1994 vintage. In 2024 the estate ranked twenty-second on the World's Best Vineyards list.
Sustainability here is written down, not implied. Banfi holds Equalitas certification for both the company and single wines. Poggio all'Oro 2016 was the first Brunello di Montalcino to earn the Equalitas product mark. For visitors, the castle anchors a wine shop, the fine-dining Sala dei Grappoli and the more rustic Taverna. There are hotel rooms at Il Borgo, plus a museum of bottles and glass. A visit here is as much about the place as the wine.
Plate I · TUSCANY
Castello Banfi on the Tuscany wine atlas
Winery
Castello Banfi
Montalcino, Siena · Montalcino
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
3 bookable experiences at Castello Banfi
3 tastings, checked by our editors. From €60.
Tasting & Tour
Estate tour with tasting
About 1 hour
From €60 per person
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 tour
on sevenrooms.com
Tasting & Tour
Estate tour with lunch
About 1 hour tour, plus lunch
€125 to €140 per person
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 tour
on sevenrooms.com
Tasting & Tour
Discovering Excellence private tour
About 2.5 hours
From €300 per person
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 tour
on banfi.it
Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.
Plan your visit
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
Key grapes
Common questions
-
Yes, by advance booking. Guided tastings and tours leave from the estate wine shop at Poggio alle Mura. Options run from a one-hour estate tour and tasting to private visits. Some private visits include lunch or a Michelin-starred dinner.
Plan a visit
Ask us to arrange your visit to Castello Banfi
This form reaches the ItalianWines.co.uk team, not the winery. Tell us when you would like to come and how many you are: we contact Castello Banfi for you and come back with availability and prices, usually within two working days.
More from Tuscany
