The “Slow Wine Coalition” has been created and is a “new revolution in the wine world”

The “Slow Wine Coalition” is a worldwide network that will unite all the main players in the supply chain to implement a wine revolution in the name of environmental sustainability, protection of the landscape and social and cultural growth of the countryside. The new wine project, signed by Slow Food, has been created and it “aims to pave the way towards a new revolution in the wine world, uniting all of the main players in the supply chain towards the awareness that the role of wine can no longer be just the self-gratifying one linked to the pleasure of tasting, but instead, it will more and more follow the way of genuine environmental sustainability, landscape protection and the cultural and social growth of the wine territories”.
A new global network, explained a note, “was created thanks to the experience and principles that have evolved, edition after edition, around the Slow Wine Guide project”. The first major meeting of the Coalition will be held in Bologna, from February 26th to March 1st, 2022. During the meeting, “Sana Slow Wine” will present the “Slow Wine Fair”, the International meeting of vignerons, professionals and enthusiasts including debates, taste workshops and walk around tastings, as part of the collaboration between Slow Food and Sana, the organic fair in Bologna. At the end of 2020, the “Slow Food Manifesto for good, clean and fair wine” (wine produced from at least 70% of grapes grown directly at the winery, no synthetic chemicals in the vineyard, irrigation limited to the bare minimum, winegrowers collaborating with the entire agricultural community in which they operate, encouraging biodiversity through concrete and specific actions, are some of the most relevant points, ed.) was presented at the Sana fair in Bologna.
“The manifesto premiered in Bologna on October 11, 2020, during Sana Restart, and is the result of a long journey spreading over the entire history of Slow Food. It was inspired by the reflections of hundreds of winemakers (gathered in Montecatini and Florence in 2009 for the second edition of Vignerons d'Europe) and is not a document set in stone, but rather a starting point to exchange views and discussions”, underlined Giancarlo Gariglio, coordinator of Slow Wine Coalition.
“The roots of our Association, at the beginning of the 1980s, were in vineyards. Over these past 40 years, our Association has grown and broadened its horizons, while still maintaining the link to wine, thanks to Slow Wine. However, although this project has reaped many successes and united many enthusiasts under the banner of good, clean and fair wine, the guide, the site, the events and the large group of collaborators are not enough to create a community. In this historical phase, we have understood that no challenge is won alone. This is why it is essential to create a community united around recognized and shared values ”. Therefore, the goal of the “Slow Wine Coalition” is precisely to bring together the players in the wine supply chain - from producers, to importers and distributors, wine makers, restaurateurs, sommeliers, communicators and journalists, and enthusiasts - inspired by the idea of good, clean and fair wine for everyone. The Slow Food Manifesto is a guide for good, clean and fair wine that establishes traditional points about the craft of the winemaker, agronomy and enology, extending the conversation to other areas such as biodiversity, the value of territory and the relationship with those who work in the vineyard and in the winery.
The three pillars of the “Slow Wine Coalition” are, as we said, environmental sustainability, landscape protection and cultural and social growth of the countryside. “Pollution, biodiversity loss due to the use of herbicides and desiccants, monoculture in the most valuable areas, and exploitation of labor are just some of the plagues that unfortunately still stain the wine world”, explained Slow Wine, “legacy of an old agricultural culture which many wine producers are giving up in favor of a true revolution that is slowly reshaping the face of this sector. The road is long, and especially at the beginning, a collective effort led by those who have already begun the path is essential. As a matter of fact, many wineries, in the wake of a general agricultural renewal period, have started experimenting and resorting to sustainable cultivation systems, practicing organic and biodynamic agriculture. In the future, especially in light of the fight against climate change, this sector will inevitably have to accelerate and offer an ethical example for all other crops, often less fortunate from the point of view of the economic margin. There is more, the most suitable vineyards are very often located in the hills or in the mountains, in steeply sloping areas, often in areas where grapes are the only opportunity to create value and maintain a human presence. Hence, the modern winery must assume a central role to defend the landscape, protect its beauty and integrity, and encourage the development of a tourism system that focuses on ecology and gastronomy. Finally, the wineries are a place of integration for many foreign workers who today offer fundamental labor in the fields, and at the same time are becoming the new inhabitants in the hills and villages that make a living from viticulture. The relationship is aimed at enhancing their skills and, if possible, adding new ones, too”.
The wine project follows the path of those linked to other sectors that the “Snail” has traveled. Alliances, themed networks and coalitions are the model Slow Food has been identified with since the very first editions of Terra Madre, to respond to the crises we are experiencing. The collaborative and crosscutting networks unite all the players in a given supply chain around shared values, to abandon the company model based on competitiveness.
The latest addition is the “Slow Food Coffee Coalition”, which brings together all the players in the coffee supply chain, from producers, to roasters, distributors and enthusiasts, united by the love for this drink. The new network, the “Slow Wine Coalition”, starting from July 2021, together with Slow Food, will help organize meetings between the first players of the Coalition in Italy and abroad who will sign the Manifesto and narrate the principles that inspired them. But, "the most important event for all vignerons, professionals in the sector and enthusiasts - who, the world over, recognize the ten points indicated by the Manifesto – will take place in Bologna, from February 26th to March 1st, 2022, with “Sana Slow Wine”, which will present the “Slow Wine Fair”, the International event dedicated to good, clean and fair wine. The event will be organized by BolognaFiere with the artistic direction of Slow Food, and will host the first International meeting of the “Slow Wine Coalition”, an opportunity for discussions and debates amongst all the players in the network, at the nearly twenty-year experience of Terra Madre.
Hundreds of producers from all over the world will gather during the four days of the “Slow Wine Fair” for conferences, debates, tastings and the exhibition of thousands of wines from all over the globe. The exhibition will be enriched by the collaboration with the Excellence Company, which brings together the eighteen leading distribution companies in Italy. Sunday will be open to enthusiasts, while Monday and Tuesday will be dedicated to professionals”. The “Slow Wine Fair” will see the participation of FederBio, historic partner of BolognaFiere with Sana and also actively collaborating with Slow Food, which will curate a section dedicated to certified organic wines. This is the central moment of a new path in wine that has begun because of Slow Food’s influence.