The passion for wine is in Erik Banti’ blood. As a child on his father’s farm , La Bracesca, in Montepulciano, he whatched with wide-eye wonder as the grown-ups worked in the vineyards, ageing and bottled the resulting nectar. At those times Tuscan wines was bottled in fiasco’s, handy blow and containing approximatively 1,8 liter and wrap with straw.
Few years on, after being graduate in economics, Erik drove racing cars and played golf, collecting Italian awards and Championships both on race tracks and golf courses. As a photographer later on he worked for Vogue and Nat-Geo. And was a favourite of Fellini’s and Zeffirelli’s film sets and sought-after by the major advertising Co. for campaign for Esso, Shell etc. and has been official photographer during the construction or the CERN central in Geneva.
Still later, now as a tour operator, he discover in 1971 the Maldives and build the first bungalows hotel for welcome turists, rent charter boats in the Red Sea and in the Philippines, trakking in the Amazonas, flying safari tours in Kenya and visit oriental beauties as Thailand, Hong Kong, Java, Bali and much more.
Thousand passions a thousand profession, using all his energy and played at his best. But, as a wise man said, “when the ground shakes beneath your feet go back to your root. So one day, tired of queues and trafic lights, he moved to maremma in his medieval Montemerano house. In 1985 Erik open a restaurant in Montemerano with tje name “Enoteca dell’Antico Frantoio” restoring a building of the 1.700 with an oil mill in the basement, the enoteca was for years the meeting point of the grastro-wine culture in the Maremma, where Erik was pouring beside his wines, wines of his friend considered the best Italian producers.
Erik established his winery in 1981, corking the first bottle of his own Morellino, a wine as yet unknown out side it’s local site wich would astonish the world thanks to the strong-willed “viking” as they call him here. As a matter of facts Erik has been the first to introduce worldwide this wine appellation letting people know and appreciate the Morellino di Scansano for his amazing quality, with recognitions from the major wine guides, magazines and news- paper colunms. The winery is located in Scansano (1.600 feet high) and a turnaround point of all our vineyards.
Wine lovers will find find a wine store with the current vintage selling wines, vintage bottles and wine gadgets. There is a penthouse meeting room up to 60 peoples for wine tastings with “merenda’s” (light refreshments) and a large terrace with breaking view over Scansano, the valley and the sea coast.
By appoitment and depending the year season it’s possible touring vineyards and winery process operations. Currently the vineyads are extendet for 51 acres and the winery buys grapes only from neighbours who offers guarantee of top grape quality. The mainly grapes production consist in sangiovese, the “King” of Tuscan grapes for a 65% of total production, French grapes varietals as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Syrah are also produced for approx. 35%. With the 2016 harvest the vineyards obtain the organic certification and starts to partially label his production with this State certification.
All wine processing from fermetation, ageing and bottling his made totally in our winery. Since 2014 use “select Bio, Carbon zero” corks obtain from leafs sugar plants. Yearly total pro- duction it’s around 30.000 cases, half of Morellino di Scansano DOCG and half of Maremma Toscana DOC, export it’s a 40% of the turn-over. R; with the first three glasses for the Morellino di Scansano obtain on the “Gambero Rosso” guide , Erik has been acknowledged to be “The Profet” of the Morellino. Both Burton Anderson and Hugh Johnson wrote about Erik Banti’s Morellino as the “New Brunello”. Wine Spectator awards for “the Best Italian buy” with amazing article.
Der Feinschemecker in a Super Tuscan wine test the Ciabatta was classified as the best while the Poggio Maestrino, our vineyard close to Montiano became #3. Wine Enthusiast on the annual article of the 100 world’s best buy wines, ranked our regular Morellino di Scansano # 40 with 91 points, the only Italian wine mentionned.
Boston Globe, in a blind tasting of 50 wines under 20$ our Carato has been classified the best by all four tastings experts.
James Suckling and Wine Advocate all wines scores from 89 to 93 points.
