Above: winemaker Dan Petroski pours for Slow Wine editor-in-chief Giancarlo Gariglio at last year’s Slow Wine tasting in San Francisco.

On Saturday, October 12, at their annual walk-around tasting in Montecatini (Tuscany), the editors of Slow Wine will be presenting the 10th edition of the Slow Wine Guide to the Wines of Italy.

The event marks a milestone for the Slow Food movement and the many women and men who have worked assiduously to put the guide together for a decade now. But it also represents a landmark moment for wine writing in Italy.

Before the guide was first published in Italy in 2010, guides devoted to the country’s viticulture focused primarily on scores and tasting notes — a model borrowed from the U.S. Until the appearance of the first edition, Italy lacked a publication that gave voice to the growers and winemakers themselves. And for the vast majority of Italian wine writers and editors at the time, soil and viticulture were a mere afterthought.

“Quality” is just one of the elements that Slow Wine addresses, wrote Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini in the preface to the first edition of the guide. “It also focuses on the people who make them and how they are produced, the vineyards and the soils, their naturality and the farming practices employed, the grape varieties and the winemakers’ growing methods, and the wines’ future sustainability.”

Ten years after its initial printing, Slow Wine has firmly established itself as a leading resource for wine lovers and wine professionals who want to tap into the ethos of the wines and the stories behind them. It has become the guide for those who seek out wines and wineries that align with their own values — enogastronomic and otherwise.

This year, Slow Wine will also be publishing the third edition of its guide to the wines of California and the second edition of its guide to the wines of Oregon (I’m the coordinating editor for both). And perhaps the biggest news is that a Slow Wine guide to the wines of New York State is also in the works (a team based in New York City is putting it together).

Congratulations to editors-in-chief Giancarlo Gariglio and Fabio Giavedoni on their accomplishment! They’ve been there since day one and it’s thanks primarily to their efforts that this labor amoris continues to thrive.

The North American editions of the guide (in English) will be presented early next year at the Slow Wine tastings to be held across the country. Cities and dates follow below.

San Francisco: February 17
Seattle: February 18
Denver: February 20
New York: February 24
Boston: February 25