Slow Wine Guide - An Insider's View of Italian & California Wineries

Now in its eighth year, the Slow Wine Guide is back — and for the first time they’re tackling California.

Spurred from the Slow Food movement, the Slow Wine Guide began in 2008, with the goal of highlighting Italian wine producers using organic, environmentally-conscious methods to produce wines that speak clearly of their place. They sum up their approach to wine criticism by, “taking into consideration the wine quality, adherence to terroir, value for money and environmental sensitivity.”

The lion’s share of this book focuses, as always, on Italy — the book includes more than 370 profiles of Italian wineries. “When Slow Wine made its debut it was hard, especially in Italy’s northern regions, to find wines that farmed their vineyards organically or at least avoided weeding with chemicals. Today it’s the exact opposite,” Giancarlo Gariglio and Fabio Giavedoni say in their Introduction to the 2018 edition.

In 2017, Slow Wine started covering California, and this new edition features 72 California producers. Readers of this blog and lovers of California wine will likely recognize many of the wineries, which were selected by U.S. editors Elaine Brown, David Lynch, and Jeremy Parzen. I know a bunch of my favorite California producers made the cut: Radio-Couteau, Rhys, Matthiasson, Littorai, Hirsch, Grgich Hills, Corison, Bedrock, Wind Gap, Ceritas, Arnot-Roberts, and more.

Each producer profile (from Italy and California) is brief and to the point, providing basic contact information and quick descriptions in three small sub-sections: People, Vineyards, and Wines. The editors also include information on each producer’s methods for fertilizing, protecting vines, controlling weeds, as well as yeasts, vineyard sources, and certifications.

I recognize some of the Italian wineries profiled, but most of them I’m unfamiliar with. Still, I’m impressed by the depth and scope of the region-by-region approach. If you’re planning a trip to Italy, this guide will give you more than enough options for wineries to visit. And if you’re looking to dig in to some of the most dynamic winemakers in California, these recommendations are a great place to start.