Last week, Jim of JVB Uncorked won the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #20 (#MWWC20) and just like all previous winners of the Challenge, his “reward” was to choose the theme for the following Challenge (in this case #MWWC21).

A few of us started the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge a couple of years ago with the desire to promote more creative wine writing. The thought was that we get caught up in tasting notes, winery visits, and the occasional food porn and we soon forget that part of the reason we put in all the hours that we do on these silly blogs is that we love to write!

Over the course of the Challenge, there has been a variety of themes, as one might expect. Even though the English language has thousands of possible choices for the theme, each winner has no doubt faced some angst in choosing the next month’s theme. (That was apparently not the case with Jim, as he had one of the fastest submissions of the new theme in the history of the Challenge.)

For me, the angst comes when trying to find an appropriate image that represents the chosen word, which is actually quite a bit harder than one might think. First, I worry if an image might be a trademark of some sort which would cause the owners of said trade mark to get agitated and then who knows what would happen (I would rather not find out).

Then I worry if the image will be to esoteric, dorky, or just plain dumb. Then there are themes like this month’s when I can’t find a single suitable manifestation of the word on the interwebs and I am forced to create something myself.

I like to think I am creative on occasion with my prose, but when it comes to graphic design? Not so much.

Oh well, enough with my own little pity party, here is this month’s theme:

A quick recap of the rules:

The rules

1. The Challenge is open to anybody and everybody. It helps if you have a blog, but that is certainly not a requirement (contact me if this is the case).
2. Write a post based on this month’s theme: “Pairing”.
3. The post should be at least tangentially related to wine (after all, it is the name of the challenge).
4. The post should be more or less around 1000 words (I routinely violate this rule, so it is just there as a “guide”).
5. Include the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge (above) that was designed by the very first winner, The Armchair Sommelier.
6. Remember to vote!
7. Once you post on your blog, please do at least two of the following and I will be sure to include a link  on all subsequent posts about this month’s challenge:
   1. Include a link back to this post in your entry.
      
   2. Use the hashtag #MWWC21 somewhere in your post.
   3. Tweet, using the #MWWC21 hashtag and include a link back to your post.
   4. Send me an email: jeff(at)thedrunkencyclist(dot)com

The all important dates:

Deadline for submission:  Monday, December 7th, 2015

Voting Begins: Tuesday, December 8th, 2015

Voting Ends:  Monday, December 14th, 2015

Winner Announced:  Tuesday, December 15th, 2015

Previous winners:

If you’re looking for some inspiration here are the links to the previous winning posts:

MWWC1 – Transportation

The Armchair Sommelier

MWWC2 – Trouble

My Custard Pie

MWWC3 – Possession

The Wine Kat

MWWC4 – Oops

Confessions of a Wine Geek

MWWC5 – Feast

The drunken cyclist

MWWC6 – Mystery

The SAHMmelier

MWWC7 – Devotion

The Sweet Sommelier

MWWC8 – Luck

The drunken cyclist

MWWC9 – Fear

The Sybarite

MWWC10 – Value

Dracaena Wines

MWWC11 – Friend

Armchair Sommelier

MWWC12 – Local

Talk-a-Vino

MWWC13 – Serendipity

Duff’s Wines

MWWC14 – Tradition

Cheap Wine Curious

MWWC15 – Success

JVB Uncorked

MWWC16 – Finish

The Wine Raconteur

MWWC17 – Epiphany

Wayward Wine

MWWC18 – Crisis

Traveling Wine Chick

MWWC19 – Choice

Frankly Wine

MWWC20 – Variety

JVB Uncorked

Please contact me if you have any questions: jeff (at) thedrunkencyclist (dot) com