The Slow Wine tour (which I believe should be renamed Slow Wine Italy, but is a little presumptuously, simply called Slow Wine) touches down in three U.S. cities, including Chicago and New York in the coming week and was off to a roaring start in SF.
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| Slow Wine Editors Fabio Giavedoni and Giancarlo Gariglio |
In an interview with Piedmont-based editor Giancarlo Giavedoni I was able to glean more of the rationale behind the guide which has seemed to me in the past to be, like so many things Italian, a mysterious and idiosyncratic collection.
The guide includes about 2,000 Italian wines chosen from 20,000 in Italy on the basis of farming practices (organic and Biodynamic practices boost winery ratings up to the highest level of Snail), affordability (no $400 wines, please) and taste profile - i.e. preserving traditional Italian wine flavors (and not Super Tuscans or Cab/Sangio blends, for instance).
The guide includes both wines made with pesticides and herbicides as well as organically or Biodynamically grown wines.
Not every organically or Biodynamically grown wine makes the cut. Some organically grown wines are left out along with about 3-5 Biodynamic producers (the latter mostly out of a personal choice by a few vintners who choose not to be included in the guide).
Not every organically or Biodynamically grown wine makes the cut. Some organically grown wines are left out along with about 3-5 Biodynamic producers (the latter mostly out of a personal choice by a few vintners who choose not to be included in the guide).
The guide's selection process is curated by some 200 participants and is funded solely by the publisher. In Italy, Giavedoni said, 35-40,000 copies have been sold and about 10,000 in the U.S.
Wineries pay, however, to participate in the costs of the traveling tasting tour which brought about 50 of the 2,000 to the U.S. Some are distributed here; others were seeking distributors.
The trade tasting was very crowded so it was virtually impossible to find the organic and Biodynamic producers without the aid of the book itself. When I got one, I was able to zero in on a few producers - including one from the Abruzzo, one from Basilicata, one from Emilio Romagna and one from Piedmont (see photos below). The Abruzzo folks were amazed I had vacationed at Vasto and that I had spent a week on Tremiti Island (where I had sampled a number of their wines thanks to the wonderful hospitality and wine list at Hotel Gabbiano.)
There is also a public tasting this evening...from 6 to 8:30 at the same venue.
Though it was not publicized at the event, the Slow Wine 2014 guide is also available as an app in the Apple App store...highly recommended. I found the app to be infinitely more useful than the book for ease of use. Paging through region upon region is tedious in the book. There is no listing by varietal. And alas, it is in Italian only, but it does allow you to drill down into wines and find wines of interest, even if the filters are somewhat limited.
It's great to see the first ever guide to wine that takes the way wine is grown into account as well as wine quality. It's at least a start toward eco wine connoisseurship, even if a lot of harmful substances are allowed, which I still personally find confusing and troubling. Am I just not Italian enough?
The other aspect that quickly surfaced as I began to taste around the exhibition area was that some wineries did in fact offer international variety blends (along with more traditional ones), so it was unclear to me how stringent that guideline was.
The other quibble is that the guide doesn't display certification at the wine level, only the winery. Since some organically grown wine comes from wineries that have both estate vineyards (usually these are certified) and purchase grapes from growers (who may or may not be certified or organic), I was unsure what was what. The guides I am publishing will show certifications at the individual wine level, which, as far as I can tell, is the only reliable way to do it.
It's great to see the first ever guide to wine that takes the way wine is grown into account as well as wine quality. It's at least a start toward eco wine connoisseurship, even if a lot of harmful substances are allowed, which I still personally find confusing and troubling. Am I just not Italian enough?
The other aspect that quickly surfaced as I began to taste around the exhibition area was that some wineries did in fact offer international variety blends (along with more traditional ones), so it was unclear to me how stringent that guideline was.
The other quibble is that the guide doesn't display certification at the wine level, only the winery. Since some organically grown wine comes from wineries that have both estate vineyards (usually these are certified) and purchase grapes from growers (who may or may not be certified or organic), I was unsure what was what. The guides I am publishing will show certifications at the individual wine level, which, as far as I can tell, is the only reliable way to do it.
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| Vajra Barberesco (which I just happened to have had at a dinner last week) |
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| Francesca Vajra of G. D. Vajra |
Great event, pity that I didn't manage to be there. But I have tried Italian's wine, so can't compare them with anything else)
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