Castello Banfi is the brainchild of an American, John Mariani, and a distinguished Italian enologist, Ezio Rivella, who, as early as 1956, mulled over how to "bring Italian wine into the world market," as Mariani now puts it, back in the days when Italy's credibility as a wine-producing nation was at a low ebb. Together with his brother and business partner, Harry, John Mariani (no relation to the food writer) sought a winegrowing opportunity wherein they could combine a sense of Italy's history and its modern flair for cutting-edge technology and style with American business acumen and marketing savvy. The brothers focused their search for virgin land in a climatically favorable region in 1976, and were fortunate to locate large, contiguous tracts of mostly undeveloped land within the viticulturally historic zone of Montalcino. In 1977, the Marianis, natives of Garden City, New York, purchased a 7,100-acre estate on the southern slopes of Montalcino. The acquisition would prove to be groundbreaking, indeed.

"The property was a sleeping giant," John Mariani says, reflecting on those heady days. To awaken the colossus, no less than a $100 million investment was bankrolled by Banfi Vintners, the U.S. importing business owned by the Marianis whose top-selling wines include Concha y Toro and Riunite, making it the country's leading wine importer.

The company is ensconced in a Elizabethan manor in Old Brookville, New York, from which the Marianis direct their global wine business. (Leaving no stone unturned, the brothers have some 40 acres of Old Brookville soil under vine for the production of a Long Island Chardonnay.)

Rivella, who at the time of the acquisition was an esteemed wine consultant and university lecturer, was enlisted to run things for the Marianis on the other side of the Atlantic. He stepped into the role of managing director in 1977 and immediately launched an ambitious enterprise that within just a few years would see more than 2,000 acres of vines planted, the castle restored and a state-of-the-art winery brought to completion.

It was on the tract of land that contained Poggio alle Mura, an 11th-century fortress and wine estate, that Rivella and the Marianis headquartered their project. The property was renamed Castello Banfi, after an influential great aunt of the Marianis, Teodolinda Banfi, and has since become the heart and soul of the Marianis' Montalcino estate.

While Piero Antinori and Angelo Gaja are perhaps Italy's best-known innovators and risk-takers - each have almost single-handedly changed the face of winemaking in their respective regions of Tuscany and Piedmont - it is less generally recognized that much the same is true of John and Harry Mariani. They not only revitalized a dormant wine region against all odds, but they did it on an enormous scale that, more than anything else, propelled the wines of Montalcino into the consciousness of wine lovers everywhere. What is more, they were instrumental in catapulting Brunello into the upper echelons of the world's great wines (see "Making Great Brunello," page 32).

The sheer size of the modern winemaking facility conceived by Rivella overwhelmed most of what was being done in Tuscany at that time. Moreover, although the focus was and remains the traditional Brunello wine made from the local clones of sangiovese (the roughly 400 acres of sangiovese planted at Castello Banfi make it the region's largest Brunello producer), Rivella, with the Marianis' blessing, decided to plant a number of non-traditional grape varieties.

It is fair to say the conservative wine enclave of Montalcino initially regarded the entire enterprise with skepticism. There was, understandably, some resentment against the arrival of bulldozers that resculpted portions of the centuries-old landscape to make way for the new vines.

"The aristocratic Italian landowners of the region regarded us as American upstarts and didn't look forward to our changes," John recalls.

The Marianis prevailed, however, and Castello Banfi became the pacesetter for the region. Other estates have since adopted many of its practices. Ironically, a great number have even embraced with enthusiasm the planting of non-indigenous varieties such as cabernet sauvignon.

Castello Banfi's neighbors also have benefited from the painstaking clonal research done under Rivella's watch in an effort to identify the most appropriate clones of the difficult-to-cultivate sangiovese grape.

Beyond the day-to-day aspects of winegrowing, the community at large has enjoyed a new era of prosperity ushered in by the Banfi initiative.

The conversion of the Poggio alle Mura castle into Castello Banfi's hospitality center - a complex that is rarely rivaled in Italy even today - was seminal. By so doing, the Marianis wisely created an epicenter within Montalcino for wine culture.

The castle and its grounds are now home to a restaurant that serves authentic regional fare and a museum of wine-related glassware dating back to ancient Roman times that is arguably the best private collection of its kind anywhere. An attractive enoteca sells local crafts, such as handmade ceramics, as well as an array of local foods - biscotti, pasta, preserves, honey and condiments. The focus of the shop, however, is on wine, exclusively from Castello Banfi.

While the single-vineyard Poggio all'Oro is Banfi's flagship Brunello, its normale Brunello is, in a vintage like 1995, what many wine devotees expect a good Tuscan Sangiovese to taste like. Neither is in short supply, although only 4,500 cases of the former is generally made in a given year, while a more substantial 45,000 cases of the latter are released annually.

A recent vertical tasting of these sibling Brunellos, held at the Castello, helped to put their evolution in perspective.

The 1980s was a period of consolidation for Castello Banfi and this era is perhaps not the best showcase for its Brunello. The estate really began to hit its stride, however, in 1990 when rich yet austere wines of great concentration began to emerge - the wonderful 1990 Poggio all'Oro is redolent of anise, tobacco and plum.

Since then, Banfi's Brunellos have gone from very good to superb. Even in a less-than-stellar vintage such as 1993, the Poggio all'Oro has to be considered among the small handful of the very top wines of Montalcino. The 1995 vintage produced wines whose deep prune fruit, smooth tannins and rich middle palate support smoky-sweet tobacco aromas. The Poggio all'Oro, in particular, possesses remarkable concentration. Barrel samples of the subsequent vintages show no leveling off in quality, with 1997, 1998 and, especially 1999, balancing extraordinary power with refined elegance. Even in the lesser vintage of 1996, the normale Brunello exhibits sweetness of fruit with caressing tannins and seductive, chestnut-like flavors.

As for Castello Banfi's other wines, the engaging San Angelo Pinot Grigio and Serena Sauvignon Blanc are crafted in a plumper, more satiny style than those from the northern and generally cooler parts of Italy. These grapes develop more tropical aromas in the warmer climes of southern Tuscany, but even if they lack some of the bite of their northern cousins, they certainly aren't deficient in staying power. A recent vertical tasting of Serena shows that the wine can handily maintain its aroma and freshness for nearly a decade.

Another attractive white in the Castello Banfi portfolio is Fontanelle, a creamy but zesty rendition of the chardonnay grape.

There also is an array of other wines made on the estate, most of them sangiovese-based, such as Col-di-Sasso and Centine, that can be very good, indeed, and, moreover, retail at modest prices. A particularly noteworthy Sangiovese is the Rosso di Montalcino; the 1998 is a lovely wine exhibiting silky texture and considerable length with vibrant fruit that recalls the violet-like scent of the local iris.

Because recent European Union rulings and strict regulations imposed by the Consortium of Brunello producers have combined to severely curtail new vineyard plantings in Montalcino, the only way to increase production of favored varieties, sangiovese in particular, has been to reduce the acreage devoted to less successful varieties. Pinot noir, for example, is being phased out. Despite years of repeated attempts to vinify this grape, its varietal character rarely came to the fore. Cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah, on the other hand, do well. Each is separately fashioned at Castello Banfi into varietal wines that are called Tavernelle, Mandrielle and Colvecchio, respectively. It is the blend of these three grapes, however, that makes the greatest impact, as is the case with both of Banfi's Super Tuscans, Excelsus and Summus.

Excelsus is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot, but the even more impressive Summus is forged from the unlikely combination of about 45 percent sangiovese, 40 percent cabernet sauvignon and 15 percent syrah.

A vertical tasting of Summus from the 1985 vintage onward reveals, much as with Banfi's Brunellos, an escalation in quality. Early vintages have unresolved tannins and fading fruit, but, starting with 1994, the wines are increasingly balanced and fuller. The 1995 is a rich rendering exhibiting layers of spicy fruit and notes of vanilla. (It is a wine to cellar as it evolves further.) In the reputably lesser vintage of 1996, Summus is silkier and more perfumed with gobs of raspberry fruit and a very elegant structure. The current 1997 vintage is both exotically cinnamon-spiced, marzipan-like and earthy with aromas of roasted espresso beans and mocha showcased in a silky structure. This sensuous wine epitomizes what could be called the Marianis' mission: "A quest for full, lush wines."

Indeed, if there is a Castello Banfi house style, it is a combination of power with finesse in which velvety tannins embrace the distinctly earthy and minerally components of the wines.

Castello Banfi produces a superb, extra-virgin olive oil, as do a number of Tuscan wine estates. Unlike most of its peers, however, it also turns out a balsamic vinegar, aged in six different aromatic wood casks for extended periods, that is among the best of its kind. High-quality plum confitures and native honey are among the other products produced at what is, after all, a working farm. These decidedly delicious condiments, however, are simply adornments to what remains the raison d'être of the entire Castello Banfi enterprise - the commitment to crafting uncompromising Brunello.

Even now, Castello Banfi's Montalcino estate is in a process of evolution with a major replanting of vines, an updating of the winemaking facilities and cellars, and further renovations of the castle and the ancient farmhouses that dot the property (to better provide luxury accommodations). Eventually, there may even be a cooking school.

Rivella, who was knighted by the Italian government in 1985 for his service to the wine industry and is affectionately called Cavaliere, has recently retired. While he remains active as a consultant, the day-to-day winemaking responsibilities have been passed on to Rudi Baratti, who had apprenticed under Rivella in earlier years.

Back in Old Brookville, there has been a changing of the guard, too. The elder Marianis have stepped aside to make room for the next generation. The 29-year-old Cristina Mariani, John's daughter, and 35-year-old James Mariani, Harry's son, had long been groomed for their leadership roles within the family company. Each seems determined to build upon the goals envisioned by their fathers.

"We now want to open the market for our wines to an even larger audience without diluting their character," says Cristina, the savvy executive vice president for global marketing. "To do this," she continues, "we will need to maintain our balancing act between tradition and innovation."

While it is certain that more chapters will be written in this tale of Americans making good in Montalcino, Cristina affirms that "Brunello will remain the bedrock of the estate."

Tasting & Touring

The wines of Castello Banfi are imported by Banfi Vintners and are widely available in the U.S. Details about both retail availability and visiting the picturesque Montalcino estate are posted on Castello Banfi's informative Web site: castellobanfi.com.

Suggested retail prices, reds: Poggio all'Oro ($125); the regular Brunello di Montalcino ($50); Summus ($47); Excelsus ($58); Tavernelle, Colvecchio and Mandrielle ($35 each); Rosso di Montalcino ($22); Centine ($11); and Col-di-Sasso ($9).

Suggested retail prices, whites: Serena and Fontanelle ($18); and San Angelo ($13). - EB

Contributing Editor Edward Beltrami is a New York-based writer with an expertise in Italian wine, and co-author of the recently revised book, The Wines of Long Island.