If you’re interested in learning more about the slow wine movement, you’ll have a good chance when the Slow Wine Tour comes to the United States in January 2018. As of now, the tour is scheduled to start in San Francisco on January 23, and then continue with follow-on dates in Seattle, Houston and New York City. During the tour, Slow Food Editore will debut their latest English-language edition of “Slow Wine,” the renowned annual guide to over 400 of Italy’s best wineries.

The Slow Wine guide includes wineries that distinguish themselves among others by producing high quality wines, practicing sustainable winemaking methods and maintaining a great price to value ratio. The “Slow Wine”guide, published by Slow Food Editore (the publishing arm of Slow Food International), adopts a new approach to wine criticism and looks at a variety of factors to evaluate wineries in their entirety. They take into consideration wine quality, history and adherence to terroir, value, environmental sensitivity and ecologically sustainable methods of practice.

“Slow Wine” was conceived to give a realistic snapshot of the current Italian wine landscape. The guide features reviews of 400 different wineries, each one visited by Slow Food experts. It is available for purchase on Amazon.com as well as in select bookstores. Of course, at stops along the U.S. tour, the publication will be available for sale as well.

The popularity of the Slow Wine guide is further evidence that the story behind each wine matters more than ever. And that’s where the Slow Food movement plays such an important role in changing the way people think about wine. The Slow Food movement, which was founded in Italy in 1989, was really a reaction to the fast-food lifestyle and the disappearance of local food traditions. It started people thinking about what they are eating, where it comes from, and how it impacts people who grow or make this food.

When you combine slow food with slow wine, you have a chance to recreate some of the storied European and Mediterranean traditions that have been eclipsed by modernity. For Italian winemakers, the Slow Wine movement has been a real success, helping to woo back wine drinkers who might have started trying out wines from other regions of Europe.

The whole movement conjures up an image of Italy as it might have existed centuries ago, when artisanal winemakers made fantastic-tasting wines using only natural ingredients that respected the terroir. At that time, of course, no one could have imagined the rise of fast food and the “fast life.” The Slow Wine movement is a way to bring back old school methods and techniques.

With the “Slow Wine” guide, it’s possible to pinpoint the exact Italian wineries that are giving the most attention to issues like sustainability and organic growing methods. As U.S. visitors to the Slow Wine Tour in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston and New York will find out, sometimes it’s more enjoyable to slow down and enjoy the finer things in life rather than rushing around to some new destination.