“GOOD, CLEAN AND FAIR” WINERIES AND “EVERYDAY WINES”: SLOW FOOD’S NEW GUIDE TO WINES “SLOW WINE” GIVES FIRST PLACE TO THE PIEDMONT REGION (54 “GRANDI VINI”). THREE AWARD-WINNING WINES FROM LANGA: GAJA, CONTERNO AND GIACOSA...

“Slow Wine” the brand new guide published by Slow Food, has also confirmed Piedmont as the promised land of Italian wine. From Bra they attribute the 54 “Grandi Vini” (great wines) to Piedmont (3 wineries and 2 “titles”) for its excellent organoleptic characteristics. One of the curators, Giancarlo Gariglio, told Winenews that even without rankings, it is comparable to Gambero Rosso’s "Tre Bicchieri" (three glasses) or the ”5 Grappoli” (5 clusters) of AIS (the Italian association of sommeliers).

In addition to this category, Slow Wine also “awards” “Vini Slow” (“good, clean and fair”) and “Everyday Wines” (up to 10 euros a bottle in wineries). This triple award also applies to the wineries, which Slow is particularly interested in: The “Chiocciola” (snail), which is the most important recognition for editors, goes to those that interpret the values of “Vigneron d’Europe” and Slow Food in their modus operandi; the “Bottiglia” (bottle) goes to companies with an excellent average for all their bottles; the “Moneta” (coin) goes to companies with an optimum quality/price of their entire production.

The award-winning “Great Wines” are all Italian classics: in Piedmont, Gaja (Barbaresco 2007 and Sori San Lorenzo 2007), Giacosa (Barbaresco Asili 2007 and Barolo Rocche del Falletto Reserve 2004) and Giacomo Conterno (Barolo Cascina Francia 2006 and Barolo Monfortino Reserve 2002). In the most classic guide trend Tuscany follows with 35 “Great Wines” but with only one multi award-winner: Poggio di Sotto (Brunello di Montalcino Reserve 2004 and Rosso di Montalcino 2007). In the rest of Italy, only two wineries were “privileged” with this award: Bellavista in Franciacorta (Vittorio Moretti Extra Brut 2002 and Grand Cuvee Brut 2005) and Fratelli Lunelli and Ferrari wineries (Trento Brut Giulio Ferrari Reserve del Fondatore 2001 and Trento Brut Reserve Lunelli 2003). The guide will be at the Pala Isozaki in Torino on October 20th.