238 “Chiocciole” and 799 “Top Wine”: the best of Italian wine according to “Slow Wine 2024”

238 “Chiocciole” assigned to the wineries that best interpret the values that go along with the Slow Food philosophy, 799 “Top wines”, the best from an organoleptic point of view, selected from 25,100 wines tasted, from 2,006 wineries reviewed, of which 198 wineries awarded with “the Bottle”, the wines that express excellent organoleptic quality: here are the numbers of “Slow Wine” 2024, the Slow Food guide edited by Giancarlo Gariglio, presented in “Milan Wine Week” 2023, in a large tasting with hundreds of wineries present, and preceded by the classic opening choral toast, which saw hundreds of glasses of Prosecco Doc clinking in unison, in a great wish for the future of Italian wine, in Piazza Tre Torri, in the heart of the City Life Shopping District. “The Slow Wine guide is like a bottle of wine: it takes a year to complete, and when it is ready, we open it, smell it, look for mistakes to improve ourselves for the next year, and most importantly, we enjoy it together with our community of winemakers, oenologists, sommeliers, wine shop owners, innkeepers, professionals, and enthusiasts”, said Giancarlo Gariglio, editor of the “Slow Wine 2024” guide, edition no. 14.
“We hope that by leafing through the pages of the guide, the enthusiast will understand how the entire Italian wine industry must be valorized and known, rather than just the usual emblazoned denominations - added Gariglio - there are excellent productions all over the country that avoid a unified style: wealth is found in diversity, and value is found in the ability to protect one’s uniqueness while protecting the ecosystem. However, we would like the common citizen to recognise the climatic abyss through which we are walking: a crisis that winemakers are experiencing at their expense, involving extreme climatic phenomena such as destructive hailstorms and heat waves, as well as plant diseases ranging from downy mildew to flavescence”.
“Slow Wine is “not just a guide, but a photograph of one of Italy’s cultural and economic heritage, protected by women and men who produce wine with respect for the land and the value of work”, reminded Federico Varazi, Slow Food Italia’s vice president. “Winemakers who are sustainable in the vineyard and in the cellar, a trendy term that is still struggling to find its way into everyday reality and political decisions: as evidenced by the slowing of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, as well as the likely imminent renewal of the glyphosate authorization”.
As in every guide, there was no shortage of special awards, namely the “Slow Wine Awards”. The Special Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Francesco Marone Cinzano of Col d’Orcia, one of Montalcino’s most representative companies, while the Special Award for the Year’s Novelty was given to Marco Schirru of the Schirru agricultural company in Orroli (South Sardinia). The Special Award for Hospitality in the winery was awarded to Cristina Varchetta of Cantine degli Astroni from Naples, particularly active in wine tourism, and whose visit routes begin from the educational area in the Astroni vineyard adjacent to the forest of the same name, once a reserve hunting lodge of King Ferdinand of Bourbon, now a WWF Natural Oasis, while the Special Award to the Young Winemaker was given to Edoardo Dottori of the Edoardo Dottori di Maiolati Spontini, among the references of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi. And again Chiara Boschis of the E.Pira e Figli - Chiara Boschis di Barolo farm, one of the most well-known names in the Langhe, received the Special Award for Sustainable Viticulture. Finally, the Slow Wine Coalition Special Award for Solidarity was awarded to Giulio Francesco Bagnale of the Arteteke Agricultural Cooperative of Barile (Potenza), whose objectives include integrating fragile and disabled people into society and the world of work.
Among the new features of “Slow Wine 2024”, is the partnership between Demeter Italia, one of the most important biodynamic certification companies at the European level, and Slow Food Italia: “starting from different histories and origins, today we find ourselves sharing the same relative values to global health, sustainability and caring for relationships - explained Giovanni Buccheri, director of Demeter Italia - and for this reason we have decided to unite our paths, in the belief that civil society and sustainable production must strengthen their alliance by working together for the common goal of safeguarding the planet and all its inhabitants. A path that will lead us to participate in Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024, where we hope to find many producers and citizens interested in understanding what biodynamic agriculture is and how it is done”.
The next appointment, with wine according to Slow Food, however, will be “Slow Wine Fair” n. 3, the event dedicated to good, clean and fair wine organized by BolognaFiere and Sana, with the artistic direction of Slow Food, scheduled from 25 to 27 February 2024.