With 1909 wineries and 23,000 wines tasted, the fifth edition of the Slow Wine guide was presented at Salone del Gusto. A guide that, as Slow Food Italy President Gaetano Pascale reminded us, “has been able to interpret new energy in the world of wine and stimulate new thinking in regard to environmental sustainability in winemaking. A guide that is trusted because it takes advantage of a tight network of collaborators on the ground.“
Fabio Giavedoni, co-editor of Slow Wine, rejected the idea that guides are redundant tools. “We are alive and very satisfied, both for the results in sales (we are the best selling wine guide in Italy) as well as for the appreciation. This is proven by the fact that there are many of you here today. And I am also very happy for the fact that our new collaborators, though young, are extremely competent, enthusiastic and have chosen to join us along this path. “
Co-editor Giancarlo Gariglio announced three spin-off initiatives from the guide: the digital Slow Wine Magazine, available in three languages, which recounts Italian winemaking including less well-known producers, the web radio program, La voce del vino (The Voice of Wine) that will begin broadcasting during the next edition of Vinitaly, and the drafting of a Slow Food Manifesto on the ethics and aesthetics of wine.
Slow Food President Carlo Petrini, “moved” by the large presence of winemakers in the audience, praised their tenacity and devotion to their work and land. “In the last 20 years, you have evolved, changed the way you make wine, and you have managed to communicate this change,” he said. “You have the good luck to make a product with great appeal, praised by educated and cultured clientele. So I urge you to join forces will all Italian farmers, because unfortunately today agriculture is at the bottom of the barrel. We find ourselves in front of a paradox: mass media has never spoken so much about food, our products are loved and revered abroad, yet Italian agriculture is on its knees. Only cohesion between chefs, producers and consumers can save us, because we’re all the same boat…. The best marketing you can do is to have pride in your own land.“
The Slow Wine guide will be released in English in January 2015.