You're Invited: Let's Go (Wine) Geeky & Explore #GodforsakenGrapes for 2020's First #WinePW

Inspired by Jason Wilson's book Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine,* to kick off 2020, I am inviting the Wine Pairing Weekend crew to explore 'godforsaken grapes' with me. Last year this book came across my desk and I was instantly intrigued because I love learning new things and I, especially, love tracking down oddball wines.

Here's an excerpt: "In recent years, you may have noticed some unfamiliar names on wine lists alongside your usual chardonnays and pinot noirs — strange, hard-to-pronounce grapes from places where, until recently, many people didn’t even realize wine was made.

"The trend has been around long enough that some of the names, like albariño from Spain or grüner veltliner from Austria, are considered old hat by serious wine enthusiasts. Nowadays, the trendy names include juhfark, from Hungary; obaideh, from Lebanon; chasselas, from Switzerland; and saperavi, from the republic of Georgia.

"Some of this newfound love for obscure grapes can be overbearing, a way for wine geeks to draw a line between those who drink pinot grigio — 'book club wine,' I’ve heard it called — and the true connoisseur. Still, whether they mean to or not, the snobs may be onto something. In seeking out the rare and arcane, wine geekery may actually be leading us toward richer biodiversity and sustainability, and perhaps even a more enjoyable drinking experience."

You do not need to have the book in order to participate. Just pick a varietal that you think is underappreciated. Open it, taste it, pair it, and share it with the #WinePW for our first 2020 event on January 11th. But I will create some suggestion lists and post them in our Facebook planning group if that helps to inspire you.

Details for participation

Are you ready to jump in and participate in the first #WinePW of 2020? Here are the details…

Send an email to tell me you're in. Include your blog url, Twitter handle, link to your Pinterest profile, and any other social media detail. If you know your blog post title now, include that...but you can send me that a bit closer to the event, I'd like to get a sense of who's participating and give some shoutouts and links as we go. The email is constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot].com.

Send your post title to me by Monday, January 6, to be included in the preview post. I will do a preview post shortly after getting the titles, linking to your blogs' homepages. Your title doesn't need to include the hashtag #winePW, but all your social shares should.

Publish your post anytime from Friday, January 10th until Saturday, January 11th at 6:00 a.m. Pacific time. You can always schedule your post in advance if you will be tied up around then.

Include a link to the other #winePW participants in your post. I'll provide the html code you can easily put in your initial post--which will link to people's general blog url--then updated code for the permanent links to everyone's #winePW posts on Saturday morning.

Get social! After the posts go live, please visit your fellow bloggers posts' to comment and share. And join us for the Twitter chat, if you can.

Sponsored posts OK if clearly disclosed. Please be sure to disclose if your post is sponsored or if you are describing wine or other products for which you have received a free sample.

Live #winePW Twitter Chat January 11, 8 a.m. Pacific time: Participating bloggers and others interested in the subject can connect via a live Twitter chat. It's a nice bring way to bring in others interested in the subject who didn't get a chance to share a blog post. You can definitely still join the blog event if you're not available for the live chat.

OK, that's all I can think of for now. For more of the backstory on Wine Pairing Weekend from founder David of Cooking Chat; check out his original post introducing the idea. Please let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments; or you can also email me at constantmotioncamilla[at]gmail[dot].com. Cheers!

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.