Wine writers and bloggers are challenged to try their hand at writing poetry for the Regional Wine Week contest. Regional Wine Week, October 10^th through the 16^th, is organized by DrinkLocalWine.com. Wine writers, bloggers, Facebook fans and Tweeterers are asked to write a haiku about local wines. So what will writers who use such terms as: austere, taut, scorched earth, resin, melted licorice, fat, voluptuous or loamy do when their vinous vocabularies are put to poetry?

Perhaps a haiku is a perfect type of poetry to use to describe a wine. After all it has a limit of 17 syllables in three lines (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables). No one can get carried away with only 17 syllables. Haikus are rather simple and become a challenge when limited to just a few multisyllabic words.

Write a Haiku and email it to Jeff Siegel at: drinklocalwine@gmail.com Since I’m on this English-related topic, the English teachers that I’ve worked with for thirty years would find me remiss if I didn’t point out that the word “varietal” is an adjective; the word “variety” is a noun. Many people that write about wine have a fondness of the word “varietal” and use it as a noun.

Here are a couple examples of wine haikus.

East Cab Sauvignon
Grape vines struggle to ripen
May be herbaceous

Vinifera grape
Comes dry, sweet and in between
A Riesling for life

Cheers,
Terry