Does your palate have mad skills? Are your tastebuds like little
ninjas, trained in the ancient art of tasting by flavor monks in a
hidden mountain redoubt? Could you tell your Cab Franc from your Cab
Sauv, even if you were at a gas station or a pig farm?
Then
you may be ready for the challenge…the Wine.Woot Mystery Wine
Challenge. It could be the world’s largest tasting event, as far
as we know. This is your chance to shut up those know-it-alls on
the message boards who think they know more about wine than you do.
Here’s how to join hundreds of your fellow wooters in putting your
palate to the test:
- Buy the current winery direct deal, a
Peter Wellington Three-Pack. Each order will include a 4th bottle of mystery wine from Wellington
Vineyards. If you order two or three three-packs, you’ll get two or
three different mystery bottles.
- The mystery bottle will be labeled “The Duke”, because
legally it has to have some kind of label on it. But this special version of "The Duke" will contain a specific mystery varietal. Which one? That's for us to know and you to find out.
- Look for the tiny little round dot on the mystery bottle.
it’ll be in the upper left-hand corner of the back label. Make a note
of what color it is.
- Open the mystery wine. Taste the mystery wine. Consult
that little Robert Parker in your head. Decide what varietal of
Wellington wine you just drank.
- If it’s before August 29th, wait until August 29th before proceeding to the next step.
- On August 29th, we’ll make the entry form for this contest
available. It's a Friday, so you've got an excuse to invite your friends over for a tasting party. At that time, you’ll need to enter your Woot username, the
color of the little dot on the mystery bottle, and your guess as to
what varietal it is. (We’ll announce the opening of the entry form in a
blog post here on Wine.Woot, so keep your eyes on the blog on the 29th.)
- Wait for us to announce the winners.
- If you’re one of them, collect your “prize”: well-earned
prestige and respect among your fellow members of the Wine.Woot
community. It’s the greatest prize of all, except for cash. And the
Feds won’t let us give people cash for a drinking contest. Spoilsports.
So
are you scared yet? Do you have what it takes to claim wine-tasting
supremacy? Sharpen your Jedi tongue skills and place your order now.
Immortality awaits you…along with some damn good wine.
Entries will
be accepted beginning August 29, 2008. To submit an entry, go to the
web form to be announced later and enter your Woot username, the color
of the sticker on the back label of your mystery bottle, and your
varietal guess into the appropriate fields. Those identifying the correct varietal will be lavishly recognized on this web site as only Wine.Woot can. Only contestants who buy the Peter Wellington Three-Pack will
be eligible to be announced as winners. No prizes will be awarded.
