Going Rogue in Your Food and Wine Gustatory Adventures
In our increasingly fast-paced, sometimes frenetic lives, there are few calls to “dial back” to a more traditional way of life. Technology reigns supreme, overtly and covertly, threatening to dehumanize many of the little things in life we used to enjoy. Sometimes I wonder if “The Matrix” hasn’t begun to seep into our lives.
This is not to say that we should all become Luddites, shunning the benefits and efficiencies of technology; it has clearly enhanced our lives in many ways. But there are certain quality-of-life issues that are being threatened, issues that should not be attempted to “improve” by another iPhone or Android app. Do we really need over 6,000,000 ways to be entertained, informed or otherwise dumbed down by smartphones?
One of the traditional ways of life I embrace is the enjoyment of food and wine. The more I rely on my smartphone and social media to objectify my way of life, the more I lose my sensory appreciation of the finer elements of my meals. Everyday gustatory pleasures are becoming more standardized and sanitized as we immerse ourselves in growing bytes and growing bites.
What has happened to the sensory pleasures of savoring our food instead of simply ingesting it, of consuming natural foods and wine instead of industrialized, manipulated foods, of watching the roses grow instead of watching our screen size grow?
I’m not alone in my angst. There is something called the Slow Food movement that espouses this concept. Its stated vision: “to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.”
A subsidiary movement within Slow Food is Slow Wine, which strives for counterbalancing the industrialization of wine around the world and publishes a guide to sustainable wines.
Every year, 200 Slow Wine staffers roam Italy to seek out wines that are representative of the precepts of the Slow Food movement; wines nurtured by nature rather than exploited by man. The staff reviewers visit each winery, speak to the individuals responsible for producing the wines, gain an understanding of and compile the sustainable practices and evaluate the biodiversity of the winery. Another important factor to consumers: the quality-price ratio of the wines included in the annual guide.
Two weeks ago, I was invited to the United States release of the Slow Wine Guide 2018, which focuses on wines from more than 400 wineries in Italy and, for the first time the United States. Over 100 producers poured their wines.
This is not another book about wine critiques. It is about wineries and the winemakers, describing the efforts of those committed to sustaining a life simpatico with nature. Reading the guide, I felt a connection to the history of each winery and winemaking family, adding a personal touch to appreciating their wines. The guide digs deep into the winery practices and enumerates six categories to provide readers with a deep understanding of vineyard practices, and in the process differentiating one “natural” wine producer from the next. One overriding factor: none of the wineries utilize chemical pesticides.
I embraced the book’s concept immediately. I even found a few surprises in my walk-around tasting exploits, grapes and locales of which I was not previously aware – a red sparkling wine of the Emilia-Romagna region produced from Barbera and Croatina grapes and an Aglianico Vulture from my ancestral region of Basilicata.
Embracing the Slow Food and Slow Wine movements entices us to appreciate nature’s bounty, which is often sidestepped by the objectivity of big business and our seduction by all things technological. I invite you to join me as a member of the Hudson Valley chapter of the movement at www.slowfoodusa.org.
Slow Wine Guide 2018 will be available in hardcover this month. Ironically, it will also be available as an iPhone app. Is this “Slow App” the latest societal oxymoron, and one more step in the inexorable path to technological dominance?
Nick Antonaccio is a 40-year Pleasantville resident. For over 20 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. Nick is a member of the Wine Media Guild of wine writers. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
