COVER STORY:
For
Cristina Mariani-May, Banfi's heiress apparent,
her blood runneth red and white
By
Steve Stevens
(PHOTO
ABOVE: JOHN MARIANI AND HIS DAUGHTER, CRISTINA,
ACCEPT VINITALY'S GRAN PREMIO AWARD FOR CAPTURING
THE MOST HONORS AT THE WINE SHOW HELD ANNUALLY
IN VERONA. THE AWARD, DECIDED BY A JURY OF 90
WINE PROFESSIONALS AND JOURNALISTS, CARRIES THE
TITLE OF THE
FINEST WINE ESTATE IN THE WORLD.
Cristina
Mariani-May grew up in Lattingtown, New York, a quiet village
hidden along the shores of New York’s Long Island Sound.
Hers was an Italian-American family where two daughters shared
one bathroom, and the family’s modest wine business usually
was a heated topic of conversation. When business did not meet
her father’s expectations, home was not an easy place to
be. But as Cristina grew, so did the Marianis’ business.
From
1974 to 2003, Banfi had the No. 1 imported wine in the United
States, and now has annual revenue in the neighborhood of $250
million. In 2002, Banfi imported nearly 6 million cases, claiming
the lion’s share of the U.S. wine market. Moreover, Vinitaly,
the world’s largest wine and spirits exhibition, has named
Castello Banfi (the Marianis’ Tuscan vineyard estate and
winery) Italy’s best winery every year since 1994 and international
winery of the year a record four times. Clearly, the little wine
house from Long Island is now an industry giant. And the little
girl from Lattingtown is now the one in charge.
On
The Map
Though her official title is executive vice president of global marketing
for Castello Banfi, Cristina (along with her cousin James) runs the
show. But she recalls traveling the wine regions of central and northern
Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany awkwardly crammed in the back
seat of her father’s silver Ferrari with her sister Diana. And
as a six-year-old in 1977, she remembers being at La Fête des
Vignerons, the legendary Swiss event held just once every 22 years
on the shores of Lake Geneva. The festival began in the 13th century
as a celebration honoring the region’s winegrowers.
“ It
was Bacchanalia,” Cristina says of the festival. “I
remember falling in love with the spirit of it, the spirit of
wine and the people in the wine business.” That’s
not surprising, considering wine seems to run in the Marianis’ veins.
Cristina’s
father, John Mariani, Jr., along with his brother Harry, inherited
Banfi from their father in 1964. The indifference most Americans
exhibited toward wine at the time frustrated them, but knowing
that training the American palate would take time, the brothers
hit upon an idea—why not start it off with something familiar?
Shy away from complex flavors and aromas, they thought. Go with
something simple and sweet.
In
1967, Banfi imported 100 cases of Italian Lambrusco under the
Riunite label, but by 1984, Banfi was importing more than 11.5
million cases. Riunite was a spectacular nationwide phenomenon—its
drinkers a cross-section of Americana, with both college students
and their parents counted among its devotees. “We drank
Riunite all the time,” said Sheryl Rosen, a student at
the CW Post campus of Long Island University (right around the
corner from Banfi headquarters) in the early ’80s.“ My
parents drank it at home all the time, too. The Lambrusco and
the Bianco. Even gave it as gifts.” So the Mariani brothers
were proved right: Riunite was the bestselling brand in the country,
and Banfi was on the map.
Times
Change; So Do Tastes
Several years later in Florence, Italy, during Cristina’s own
college studies, her father’s vision at last became her own.
She loved Italy, she loved wine, and she decided cultivating the Mariani
legacy would be her lot. “My father was ecstatic,” she
says, adding that her parents were always, and still are, very supportive
of her. “They always said, ‘Pursue your dreams, whatever
they are.’ They didn’t pressure me in any way to be involved
in the business. But they instilled in me a lot of self-confidence,
belief in myself.”
“ Cristina
was a born leader,” her father says. “Patient, understanding,
intelligent, athletic, charming. She’ll take time to help
friends and colleagues with their problems. She’s … at
peace within herself.” After college, Cristina (who has
a bachelor’s
degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree
in business administration from Columbia Business School) promptly
went to work at Banfi, preparing for her eventual role as head
of the multimillion-dollar company her grandfather founded in
1919. One of the new leader’s biggest challenges came in
the form of a companywide transition from an internal culture
of just a few key leaders to a broader management structure with
more departments. Modernizing Banfi’s corporate ethos to
reflect the new global challenges it faced was a steep hill to
climb.
“ The
wine business is different now; it’s faster, more competitive,” Cristina
says. “You have to think and act extremely quickly. The
biggest change, though, is consolidation… of suppliers,
of importers, of distributors, of wholesalers; especially distributors.
They did not [always] have the power they have now.
Fortunately,
Cristina is not alone in captaining Banfi’s front lines.
She gives her cousin and partner, James Mariani, a great deal
of credit for restructuring and managing U.S. operations, calling
him “absolutely pivotal” in the new Banfi’s
success. But what does James think about his cousin?
“Cristina
personifies the classic qualities of
a leader—positive and inspirational energy; ambitions that
are both far-reaching and realistic; the ability to genuinely
listen combined with the talent to effectively persuade; and
above all, the willingness and ability to take a stand when others
will not or cannot. She is an outstanding family business partner
and friend.”
Indeed,
it is in great part due to Cristina, and the talented management
team she helped assemble, that Banfi vineyards and wineries are
reaching sensational new heights and producing a heady stream
of stellar wines: acclaimed Brunellos, super Tuscan blends and
innovative Syrahs, to name a few. And though Cristina travels
the world—lecturing to students, conducting tastings and
taking part in wine events from Las Vegas to the Cayman Islands—she
often finds her most thrilling trials back in Long Island.
“ The
most exciting thing happening right now is moving from one generation
to the next,” Cristina says. “It has been tough.
We had to bring in people to help talk, and with family there
is always some emotional baggage. For a while I wasn’t
sure we were going to make it, if there would continue to be
a Banfi.” Cristina is extremely proud of her professional
partnership with James, and adds that Harry Mariani, her uncle,
is ready to retire, and her father is warming to the idea; the
transition of power should be complete within the next three
years.
Having
Her Wine… And Drinking It, Too
Tough challenges are part of the daily grind for whoever sits atop
the corporate ladder, but for many women leaders there are often special
problems. “There is [sometimes] a sense outside of Banfi among
men of a certain age group—the generation before us, perhaps—that
women are only [working] until they go home to raise their families,” Cristina
says. She notes that her experiences as a female executive have been
mostly positive, though. “Like the rest of the world, the wine
world is changing in that regard.”
Her father adds that he thinks graduate school benefited Cristina by
giving her greater knowledge and confidence in a business world dominated
by men, but being a woman certainly hasn’t slowed Cristina’s
career progress. “At the James Beard House, a culinary center
in lower Manhattan, the wines of Castello Banfi were presented to a
sold-out crowd of prominent wine aficionados. After Cristina’s
presentation, Louis Noto [former chairman of Exxon-Mobil] approached
me and said, ‘John, do you know how lucky you are?’”
Cristina
says her two-year-old son, John Dixon May, and her husband of
five years,
Marshall May, are two more sources of daily inspiration to her. Marshall
finally convinced Cristina to agree to build their new home only a
three-minute walk away from Banfi’s offices. “It has been
great,” she says. “I want to thank him every day!”
Ultimately,
Cristina’s drive and motivation are to excel as caretaker
of the Mariani
legacy. “That’s what it’s all about, right? Family?
If not, then what are we doing it all
for?”
The Wine Report® Magazine
