Banfi Vintners

Cristina Mariani-May is family proprietor and co-CEO of Banfi Vintners, America’s leading wine importer, and the award-winning Castello Banfi vineyard estate in Montalcino, Tuscany. The youngest daughter of Banfi Chairman Emeritus John F. Mariani Jr., Ms. Mariani-May, together with her cousin James W. Mariani, represents the third generation of family leadership in the company founded by their grandfather, John F. Mariani, Sr. in 1919.  

Ms Mariani-May is a graduate of Georgetown University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, where she served as president of the student wine society.  A native of Long Island, NY, she credits her high school education The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut for broadening her perspective with classmates from around the country and the boarding experience for teaching her independence at an early age.  And though she traveled extensively with her father while growing up, she credits her undergraduate semester at Georgetown’s campus in Fiesole, Italy, with inspiring her to join the family business.

“Staying at the Villa le Balze, I fell in love with the art, food and of course wine culture of Italy,” she reflects.  “Living among peers in an international setting, rather than following your parents footsteps, means seeing a place with your own eyes.  Rather than being dragged along, you make the decision to go on the path and complete that journey.  Banfi is immersed in the culture of Italy, and that year it called to me.”

She formally joined Banfi in 1993, assisting in the firm’s sales, marketing and public relations in order to gain an overview with which to develop long-term strategy.  Today, Ms. Mariani-May makes frequent visits to Castello Banfi to review winemaking, hospitality, marketing and sales to over 85 countries around the world. She personally supervised the development and 2007 opening of Castello Banfi – Il Borgo, a luxury resort hotel housed within the estate’s medieval castle. Il Borgo’s 14 rooms and suites serve as a beacon for regional hospitality.  She travels to many of the 85 countries where Castello Banfi wines are sold, speaking about her family’s  pursuit of excellence in winemaking, including ground-breaking clonal research on the native Sangiovese vine to improve upon the region’s historic Brunello di Montalcino wine and innovative “Super Tuscan” blends.  Castello Banfi is also the First Winery in the World to be Awarded International Recognition for Exceptional Environmental, Ethical and Social Responsibility (ISO 14001 and SA8000) and International Leader in Customer Satisfaction (ISO 9001-2000).

Ms. Mariani-May makes her home in Old Brookville, New York, where she lives with her husband, Marshall May and their three young children.