New York, NY (PRWEB) October 02, 2017
This January, Slow Food International and Slow Wine Editore will release the latest English-language edition of Slow Wine, the renowned annual guide to 400 of Italy’s best wineries, during the 2018 Slow Wine US Tour.
This year, Slow Wine has expanded their guide to include American wineries for the first time ever. The Californian wineries were reviewed using the same “Slow” philosophy that is at the core of the Guide. The move to add non-Italian wineries is not unprecedented – the 2017 edition added eight from Slovenia – but this year’s larger selection of wineries marks the Guide’s most aggressive steps to take their Slow philosophy worldwide. The Guide’s founding organization, Slow Food, has been international since 1989.
Slow Wine recognizes that the wineries they review not only put their hearts and souls into the wines they produce, but also into the land on which it is made. The Guide uses the following symbols to evaluate each winery:
- The Snail, the Slow Food symbol, signals a cellar that has distinguished itself through its interpretation of sensorial, territorial, environmental, and personal values in harmony with the Slow Food philosophy. Only wineries that are herbicide free can receive the Snail.
- The Bottle, allocated to cellars that show a consistently high quality throughout their range of wines.
- The Coin, an indicator of great value.
Slow Wine features wines that represent outstanding quality, expressing the history and identity of the land from which they come in each sip.
Slow Wine California officially opened its chapter in the summer of 2017. After visiting hundreds of producers on the West Coast and evaluating them according to the same high standards the guide is known for, over 50 producers were selected and added to the 2018 guide. Moving into California is a significant step for the Slow Wine Guide, as the state is home to preeminent New World wine-producing areas that are relevant on a global scale in the wine world. California’s commitment to sustainable wine-making and respect for the terroir is consistent with Slow Wine’s principles and its mission to support local agriculture.
The Slow Wine guide publisher, Slow Wine Editore, and a delegation of its top wineries will hold tasting events for press and trade during their annual multi-city US tour, stopping in San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Houston, and New York City. In Houston, Slow Wine Editore will join forces with Italy – American Chamber of Commerce of Texas to host one of the largest food and wine fairs in the US featuring Italian products. In addition, this year seven new Italian wineries received the distinguished Snail award, bringing the grand total in the guide to 195.
“We are thrilled about our new foray into the US. The wineries practice and believe in the “Slow” philosophy, which is increasingly important to consumers in wine and food,” says Giancarlo Gariglio, Editor of Slow Wine. “When we search out new wineries and winemakers, our role is to discover those whose practices coincide with organic or sustainable methods and who make wine with integrity and care. Our guide’s role is to help readers find these wineries, which have become even more numerous in Italy and the US in the eight years since we started the guide.”
The dates and locations of the 2018 Slow Wine US Tour are:
January 22nd, San Francisco
January 23th, Seattle
January 25th, Atlanta
January 29th, Houston
January 31st, New York
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About Slow Wine
The Slow Wine Guide, published by Slow Food Editore (the publishing arm of Slow Food Italy*), adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety. They take into consideration wine quality, history and adherence to terroir, value, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable methods of practice. Slow Wine was conceived to give a realistic snapshot of the current Italian wine landscape. The guide features reviews of over 400 different wineries, each one visited by Slow Food experts. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com as well as in select bookstores.
*Slow Food International is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it, and good for the planet. A non-profit member-supported association, Slow Food was founded in Italy in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life and the disappearance of local food traditions, and to encourage people to be aware about the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.