Last week, Beth of Traveling Wine Chick won Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #25 (#MWWC25) and just like all previous winners of the Challenge, her “reward” was to choose the theme for the following Challenge (in this case #MWWC26).

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!

Some might say that the fix was in last month since the theme was “Travel” and the Traveling Wine Chick won. Well, far be it from me to dismiss any solid conspiracy theories out of hand, but I can assure you that the vote tabulation was above board.

The voting itself, however, was well below the number of votes I normally see for the Challenge, so if there was some kind of fix in the works, it might well have been there. I am far from a “techie” kind of guy (just look at my blog–could it be any more boring?) so I am the last guy to try to figure out how or if any shenanigans of that nature occurred. I will say that Beth is pretty smart, though (she used to be a college professor), and her website is far fancier than is mine.

Come to your own conclusions.

All kidding aside, when I got the word from Beth for this month’s Challenge, I was more than a bit intrigued as to how it will play out. With every new theme, I wonder if it will encourage or suppress the number of entries. This month was no different as the theme that Beth chose is perhaps the most interesting thus far in the Challenge:

Not exactly the first word I think of when I ponder wine, but it should lead to some interesting posts!

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: “SOLITUDE”.
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 #MWWC26 somewhere in your post.
   3. Tweet, using the #MWWC26 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, July 18th, 2016

Voting Begins: Tuesday, July 19th, 2016

Voting Ends:  Monday, July 25th, 2016

Winner Announced:  Tuesday, July 26th, 2016

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

MWWC21 –Pairing

L’Occasion

MWWC22 – Second Chance

(Un)Common Grape

MWWC23 – New

The Drunken Cyclist

MWWC24 – Pleasure

Cheap Wine Curious

MWWC25 – Travel

Traveling Wine Chick

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