We here at Grape Juice are tickled pink to announce that Wine Blogging Wednesday #23 will be our first attempt to take part in this long-standing wine blogging tradition. Whether it be our young blood, or just delight in finding an excuse to drink more, we find it awfully hard to refuse a challenge.

Wine Blogging Wednesday is currently in its 23rd iteration, having been formulated in July of 2004 by community old-hand (it’s a compliment, I swear!) Lenn Thompson from Lenndevours. Noting that foodie bloggers seemed to be having a blast with “Is My Blog Burning?”, Lenn figured wine enthusiasts could provide similar challenges for each other in the hopes of creating a “fun and a learning experience for all the oenophile bloggers out there!” Here here!

Michelle and I are newcomers to the scene, and it took us a while to stumble across the WBW. Once we did though, the idea was instantaneously intriguing, especially since it falls right into the lap of our other initiative: try as many grape varieties as humanly possible. Here now we have the chance to not only adventure within varietals, but also with themes. Nothing would please me more than having to root around the LCBO looking for a red wine under 12.5% alcohol (WBW #22: Lite Reds, which we JUST missed catching).

The rules are simple enough…just read the theme laid out by that WBW’s sponsor and then like we do here anyway, write up our thoughts, show a picture if possible, and try to track down an “official” tasting note from someone more famous that yourself (I kid. Lenn points out that reading official notes and comparing them to your own is an excellent way to learn, and he’s absolutely correct). Seems both simple and that it could be lots of fun. It remains to be seen just how creative WBW hosts can be, but with past titles like Get Off (Dry) (#11), Wacky Name Wines (#5), and Obscure Red Varietals (#7), I don’t think there will be any shortage of amusement.

We’ll let you know how our first WBW goes as soon as we pop the cork.