Banfi

Banfi? Surely the Italian-American wine empire belongs in Tuscany, in Montalcino? Surely. But the visionary founders John and Harry Mariani also acquired a winery in Piedmont at the end of the 1970s, just one year after the Tuscan winery was founded, where the most important appellations of origin from Lower Piedmont are produced: Dolcetto, Brachetto, Albarossa, a cross between Barbera and Nebbiolo, and Alta Langa.

The winery was founded in 1860 and has always been known for its sparkling wines and also for the single-vineyard wine Principessa Gavia made from Cortese grapes. This seductively fragrant white wine is reminiscent of the princess of the same name, who lost her heart to a simple guard and fled with her beloved to a Piedmontese village to escape her father’s wrath. In the end, the king was understanding and gifted the couple the village that still bears the name Gavi to this day – just like the wine produced there.