“Slow Wine Fair”: innovations and alliances to lighten the economic and environmental cost of wine

A new debate to reflect on innovation and possible alliances to lighten the economic and environmental cost of wine, and to reflect on what it means that a wine is not only “good” but also “clean”, as, both inside and outside the glass, 1,000 wineries from Italy and all over the world will explain. This will be “lighted” at Slow Wine Fair 2025, at edition No. 4 in BolognaFiere (February. 23-25), the most important event dedicated to good, clean, and true wine, with the artistic direction of Slow Food that hosts the international meeting of Slow Wine Coalition, the inclusive and collaborative network that joins the protagonists of the world of wine. And that, with the absolute innovation of the contemporaneity with edition No. 36 of Sana in the new cover of Sana Food, the new concept dedicated to healthy nutrition away from home, will be the world-class event for organic, from winegrowers to wine enthusiasts, but also for sector operators, from buyers to importers and suppliers, from restaurant owners to chefs of the inns of “Chiocciola”, from sommeliers to wine shop sellers, all involved in the debate.
“The bond between Slow Wine Fair and the new format of Sana Food will give life to a fair meeting essential for the organic business community – says Domenico Lunghi, director Direct Events Food & Beverage BolognaFiere. Therefore, Sana has been the class-event for organic nutrition in Italy for 35 years, and now (with 10,000 visitors, ed), starting from 2025, the display of this type of food will be supported by a show where 500 biological and biodynamic wine producers are present. Therefore, the bio-specialized visitor (and not only) will find proposals of excellence both for food menu and wine list and beverage. The synergies between Slow Wine Fair and Sana Food will be different. For example, thanks to the support of Ice, and to the contemporaneity of the two fairs, the breath will be still more international: over 300 abroad buyers are expected to arrive, i.e. 50% more than the last edition of Slow Wine Fair, with a very wide participation from Northern Europe, Northern America, and Canada, and the significant new entries of China and Japan. Then, the collaboration between the two projects will allow to organize at the fair the Healthy / Bio / Sustainable Happy Hour combining the rich offer of wines and spirits of Slow Wine Fair with “healthy and sustainable foods” by Sana Food.
“With edition No. 4 of Slow Wine Fair, we enlarge the reflection about the environmental impact of wine to the processes supporting the production, packaging and its role in marketing strategies. Packaging materials, including glass, give a relevant contribution to the ecological footprint of a label, more than cultivation techniques, or the practices in the winery in terms of used energy to produce bottles, and for transportation. These are factors that, we, as citizens, take into consideration, only when they make a product easily recognizable on the shelf”, underlines Federico Varazi, vicepresident of Slow Food Italia, who makes a proposal: “edition 2025 wants to launch an appeal, first of all to wine producers, to give equal dignity to all wines, result of the same agronomic practices, and therefore, expressing the same quality assurance. From bag in box wines to bottle wines. An appeal to the world of consortiums, and to the associations of the industry, but also by wine critic and to operators to focus on the evaluation of factors of intrinsic value of wine, and to narrate the wine in its essence, without superstructures, and frills that risk to confuse, or mislead the end consumer”.
“Slow Wine Fair, at edition No.4, is finally reaching the physiognomy that we planned when we imagined it. A fair that collects a very high average quality of proposed wines, thanks to an iron selection at the basis that only BolognaFiere had the courage to make – explains Giancarlo Gariglio, coordinator of Slow Wine Coalition (and with whom, WineNews discussed in an interview about consumption trends) – its strength is also the homogeneity of the physiognomy of exhibiting wineries: most of them are bio-certified (over 50%, he told us), all follow the production from the grape to the bottle, according to the principles of “Manifesto of good, clean, and true wine”, foreseeing the waiver to herbicide, and to some products of chemical synthesis. Precisely, this so high and homogeneous offer is the key to the public success that Slow Wine Fair is enjoying: even more buyers and specialists consider the event as a place where making scouting or finding the right labels is easier to complete the range of products that they offer to their consumers. The same wine enthusiasts consider the fair as a “never never land”, where every tasted wine is directly offered by the producers, and this creates an invaluable experience of dialogue and knowledge”.
“The next edition of Slow Wine Fair will be held for the first time together with Sana Food, dedicated to Horeca, one of the channels of reference for the sale of biological wine. It is an innovation aiming to represent a key appointment to valorize the Italian biological production, and to promote an agriculture based on the wellbeing of our ecosystem - affirms Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president FederBio – with 136,000 hectares of vineyards cultivated with a organic method, almost 30,000 operators dedicated, and an impact of over 20% on the total of national viticulture, Italy confirms itself amongst the world leader in organic wine production. Italian organic and biodynamic labels are particularly appreciated, because they combine the value of the territorial identity of the denominations of origin to that of sustainability given by biological certification, fundamental for the safeguard of soil fertility, biodiversity, and to face climate change. In 2023, made in Italy biological wine sales reached a turnover of 57.5 million euros, with a growth of 6.5% compared to 2022. I believe, that, never as today, the spread of awareness to citizens about the importance of choosing bio and sustainable products, that not only respect the planet, but ensure a healthier nutrition, and a better future for young generation, is fundamental”.
“We have been great scouters of Slow Wine Fair, which we supported it since its first edition, that is not taken for granted for our organization, but since the beginning, the idea at the core of the fair seemed us right, and the partners were more than reliable - reaffirmed Marcello Gentile of Agri-food Office and Ice Wines – Agency for the abroad promotion, and internationalization of Italian businesses reporting the greetings of renewed president Matteo Zoppas - the synergy between Slow Wine Fair and Sana Food allows to increase the possibilities to reach abroad markers for exhibitors. For example, Ice facilitates the participation of over 150 out of 300 buyers who will take part in both events. We are convinced that the theme of the sustainability of the packaging is fundamental to give the idea that wine quality doesn’t pass through frills and superstructures, but it is the quality with which wine is produced that determines the success of companies of agri-food industry”.
Rita Babini, vine grower at Ancarani, and national secretary at Fivi-Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti, reaffirms how Slow Wine Fair audience corresponds to the profile that her winery wants to intercept:“Slow Wine Fair is giving a national and international opening always more precise both to the involved wineries, and to the audience of wine enthusiasts and specialists. An audience, to which the philosophy of the event, and of selected wines, is clear. This year, the chosen subject matter allows, moreover, to highlight the theme of packaging, narrating the choices that many wineries are already doing, or have already done in this field. Daily wines in bag in box, and higher-end wines in glass are for us complementary products, and not opposite, satisfying different needs, even deriving from the same agricultural practices, and giving the same guarantee: if we begin to drink well in the daily consumption, or in more important occasions, then, we never go back”. Luca Sarais, guiding Cantine Isola, in the hearth of Chinatown in Milan since 30 years, and spokesperson of Vinarius, Association of Italian Wine Shops, highlights how Slow Wine Fair can be an important moment for wine specialists: “I believe in the cultural value of a fair like this. The possibility to dialogue with selected producers, reflecting a clear philosophy, and to take part in conferences and masterclasses addressed to different audiences make it a great open center, a place in which wine experts, but also the audience made up of wine enthusiasts can make their contribution. From an event such this, important inspirations on how to evolve and change our way of working can emerge, useful incentives and reflections can be seized in order to modify our look, and to an additional working growth”. Lastly, Iacopo di Teodoro, wine importer operating in the Usa (Artisanal Cellars and Lucidity Wine Merchant), shows how the participants of Slow Wine Fair can seize new business opportunities: “the fair world, in the Usa and not only, is almost overcrowded. For wine specialists, it is important not to waste time, to know to have invested it in the best way possible. A professional organization, and the certainty to find wines and labels reflecting a precise philosophy are the main characteristics we look for. I have been grown with Slow Food, and for 20 year, I have been committed to the wines of the territory, bio-certified, and proposed at the right price. Wines that have an identity, sons of a precise philosophy. In a fair, I look for a coherent selection, which meets my expectations: I know that Slow Wine Fair is capable of satisfying them”.