In mid-September 2022, after building art at Burning Man and working harvest in California, I’m off to Italy! I’ll have about a week to help with harvest there in Tuscany or Lombardy or maybe both, then a week of conferences including the Slow Food Conference being held Th. Sept. 22 to Mon. Sept. 26, 2022 in Turin followed by the Wine Media Conference Weds. Sept 27 to Monday Oct. 3 where I’ll be leading a panel to discuss how the Slow Food movement led to the Slow Wine Movement which has traveled around the world with publications as far away as the US and China!  The two conferences are located less than three hours from each other, with Milan roughly in the middle.

The synchronicity of the two conferences amazes me: as a Slow Wine Guide writer in the US, I proposed the Slow Food, Slow Wine panel months ago, long before the press invite came for the 14th edition of the Slow Food Conference in Turin, “Terra Madre Salone del Gusto,” the most important international event dedicated to food politics, sustainable agriculture, and the environment. 

“Following the inevitable reshaping of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020 we are preparing for an edition where we will meet again; where the focus will be Regeneration in all its forms,” explains Vice President Edie Mukiibi. “To regenerate means to restore to a better state, and we’ll discuss that idea from various perspectives, favoring an (eco)systemic approach to what food is today, and what we think it should be tomorrow.”

With  the theme of regeneration, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 will be about “radical renewal and real agroecological transitions that – Slow Food believes – can and must begin with food: by improving our agricultural practices, our systems of production and distribution, our diets and consumption and habits, from the largest cities to the smallest villages,” they state. While physically in Turin’s Parco Dora, “Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 will be a hybrid physical and digital event with calendar of activities organized by the Slow Food network around the world, for those who cannot travel to Turin.”

 

A post-industrial park, Parco Dora gets its name from the the Dora Riparia, which in the 1950s was “covered with reinforced concrete slabs to create a depository for the storage of scrap metal used in the nearby steelworks. Starting in the 2000s, once the steelworks had closed, the river was uncovered once more, and since 2018 has flown freely once more: regenerated.” A space full of factory smoke and industrial noise “will hold the world’s largest international event dedicated to sustainable agriculture, environmental politics and the future of food.”

In Parco Dora, Turin, from September 22-26, 2022 I’ll visit over 600 exhibitors in the  market, and take part in a series of workshops, conferences and tastings that show how we can regenerate our planet through food– and change the shape of the future of our planet by following the three pillars of Slow Food strategy: biodiversity, education and advocacy. Fortunately for me, while the conference is in Italy, sessions will be in English with translations in French and Spanish. 

Not familiar with Slow Food? A worldwide network of local communities, Slow Wine was founded in 1989 to combat the loss of local food traditions and the spread of fast food culture. Slow Food grew into a global movement involving millions of people in more than 160 countries working to increase access to good, clean and fair food everywhere and for everyone. Read more about Slow Food, Slow Wine here.

After years of tasting, studying, and writing about Italian wines, I’m thrilled to be finally going to Italy myself, and to share my passion for Slow Food and Slow Wine with attendees of the Wine Media Conference; this will be my fourth time speaking on various topics. My panel on Slow Food and Slow Wine is scheduled for Sat. Oct. 1 and is slated to include Slow Wine Guide contributors, Slow Wine Guide wineries, and a tasting session with wineries like Vigna Petrussa which you can read about here and more Vigna Petrussa here. Check out the rest of the Wine Media Conference agenda below and here.  Read more about Lombardy here.

Tuesday – Wednesday, September 27 – 28

Pre-Conference Excursions: (WHICH SHOULD I CHOOSE????)

• Consorzio Tutela Valcalepio & Consorzio Tutela Moscato di Scanzo (September 27)
• Consorzio Tutela Lugana DOC (September 27)
• Consorzio Tutela Lugana DOC (September 28)
• Consorzio Valtènesi & Consorzio Garda DOC (September 28)

Thursday Sept 29 TBA

Friday, September 30 

• 9:00 – 9:15 AM Official Conference Opening with Allan Wright
  
• 9:15 – 10:15 AM Introduction to Lombardy as a Wine Region
• 10:15 – 10:45 AM What Italian Wines Can Teach Us About Building Authentic Creator Brands: with Diane Letulle 
• 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Sweet Wines of Bordeaux Discovery Session
• Lunch provided
• 1:15 – 1:45 PM Do wine podcasts work?: with  Stevie Kim, founder of Italian Wine Podcast 
• 1:45 – 2:45 PM Discovery Session
• 3:00 – 3:30 PM Making Your Travel Into A Short Film with Barbara Barrielle: 
• 3:30 – 4:00 PM Solo Session
• 4:00 – 5:00 PM Live Wine Social – White/Rosé: 
• 5:00 – 5:30 PM Live Wine Social: Meet the Wineries: 
• 6:00 – 9:30 PM Dinner Excursions (Offsite)

Saturday, October 1

• 9:00 – 9:45 AM Solo Session
• 9:45 – 10:30 AM Out With the Same ‘Ol: The Time is NOW to Shine the Spotlight on the Weird and Wonderful, Lesser-Known Grape Varieties Out There with Devin Parr: 
• 10:45 – 11:45 AM Slow Food, Slow Wine Panel + Tasting with Gwendolyn Alley: 
• 11:45 AM – 12:15 PM Solo Session
  
• Lunch provided
• 1:30 – 2:30 PM Wines of Abruzzi Discovery Session: 
• 2:30 – 3:30 PM Panel Session 
• 3:45 – 4:30 PM Panel Session
• 4:30 – 4:40 PM Conference Wrap-up & Thank-yous
• 4:40 – 5:40 PM Live Wine Social – Red
• 5:40 – 6:00 PM Live Wine Social: Meet the Wineries
• 6:00 PM Dinner

Sunday – Monday, October 2 – 3

Post-Conference Excursions: (So hard to CHOOSE!)

• Consorzio Vini Mantovani (October 2)
• Consorzio Valtènesi & Consorzio Tutela Lugana DOC (October 3)
• Consorzio Tutela Vini Oltrepo Pavese (October 2 – 3)
• Consorzio Tutela Vini di Valtellina (October 2 – 3)

Check out the details and register for the excursions here.

And what comes after the Wine Media Conference and the post-conference excursions? 

Why the World Wine Tasting Championships at Ayala in Champagne, of course! With a stop in Alsace of course because it’s along the way!

My main question is: On Saturday Oct. 8, will I be competing in the contest for Team USA or covering the contest as a journalist? And more questions: Will there even be a Team USA?  And after several disappointing years of poor performances, will Team USA have better results, perhaps with more practices in advance or different coaching and team? Plus, what’s going on with that lawsuit filed by Team USA member Kristin Shubert? All this and more coming to this website soon!

Read previous World Wine Tasting coverage here: