Slow Wine Guide USA

Slow Wine Guide USA is a new and revolutionary guide to the wines of California, Oregon, New York, and Washington. Thanks to the help of a handful of expert contributors, we’ve selected the best wineries from each state and reviewed their most outstanding bottles.

The idea behind Slow Wine is simple: it acknowledges the unique stories of people and vineyards, of grape varieties and landscapes, and of their wines. The awareness that wine is more than just liquid in a glass helps wine lovers make better, more conscious choices and enhances the very enjoyment of this beverage. Since its beginnings in Italy twelve years ago, Slow Wine has combined its tasting sessions with equally important moments of exchange and debate with producers. The direct contact with winegrowers and winemakers allows for a genuine, authentic, and always up-to-date report on what’s happening in America’s vineyards and cellars. Each winery receives a review divided in three sections: the first one is dedicated to the people who live and work at the winery, the second to the vineyards and the way they’re farmed, and the third to the finest wines currently available on the market.

The very best wines are awarded the Top Wine accolade. Among these we have the Slow Wines ― which beyond their outstanding sensory quality are of particular interest for their sense of place, environmental sustainability or historical value ― and the Everyday Wines, representing excellent value at prices within $30. The most interesting wineries on the other hand are awarded the Snail, for the way they interpret Slow Food values (sensory perceptions, territory, environment, identity) while offering good value for money; the Bottle, to wineries whose wines are of outstanding sensory quality throughout the range; the Coin to those estates offering excellent value for money.

Giancarlo Gariglio: Editor-in-chief. Deborah Parker Wong: Coordinating Editor. Pam Strayer: Senior Editor. Jonathan Gebser: Editorial Assistant. Contributing Editors: Gwendoyln Alley, Peg Champion, Catherine Fallis, MS, Charles Kelly, Laurie Love, Sally Ohlin, Karla Ravandi, Leslie Rosa, Amber Turpin, L.M. Archer, Sophia McDonald Bennett, Catherine Fallis, MS, Ellen Landis, Neal D. Hulkower, Ph.D., Nancy Crosier, Robin Shreeves, and Kathleen Wilcox. The Slow Wine Guide evaluates over 400 different wineries and treats each with the utmost respect and attention. The Slow Wine team prides itself on the human contact it has with all producers, which is essential to the guide's evaluations. While other guides limit their relationship to a blind tasting and brief write up, Slow Wine takes the time to get personal with each winery in order to create a well-informed, detailed review of the wines themselves and the people behind the production. Slow Wine selects wineries that respect and reflect their local terroir and practice sustainable methods that benefit the environment. And for the first time ever, those wineries that receive the snail or the official Slow Wine seal are 100% free of chemical herbicides, a quality that the Slow Wine Guide continues to passionately support.