SALONE DEL GUSTO 2006 - A COMMUNITY OF ONE THOUSAND WINEMAKERS AT MONTPELLIER: THE MAIN GOAL OF THE “TERRA MADRE OF EUROPEAN WINE”

One thousand vignerons reunited in Montpellier (the French city that, next April, will be hosting the new initiative by Slow Food) to discuss a project with the scope of applying ecology to viticulture and “open source” information in order to make all of the experiences of the most important European winemakers more accessible. This is the event that was organized at the Salone del Gusto, held recently in Turin, and during which about sixty French, German and Italian (among whom Altare, Oasi degli Angeli, Fattoria di Felsina, Pieropan, Villa Bucci, Tenuta di Valgiano) winemakers met for the first time ever to elaborate on a articulate a complex “work in progress”. A project that, in the tradition of Slow Food, aims towards an equilibrium that does not invoke sterile ideologies but, rather, is geared towards pragmatism.

”Participation is naturally open to all” – “explained Giacomo Mojol, one of the most important leaders of the international association from Bra – “and there are no laws set in stone as is the case with biodynamic or vini veri associations. Our goal is that of recreating, following the example of Terra Madre, a network of producers who can begin to get attuned with a series of values, like territory, clean agriculture, the non use of OGMs, making prevalent the practice of vineyard to wine cellar”.

The project is still in an embryonic phase, but this meeting that was held has already outlined some guidelines for a true coding for the concept of a vigneron: “Precisely this concept” – concluded Mojoli – “will be the inspiration and the glue for our initiative”.