It’s a big day here at STBNY HQ: I’m delighted to announce our first-ever giveaway contest! I have 4 free tickets (usually $60 a pop) available to the ZAP Zinfandel Grand Tasting on Saturday, January 30 from 2-5 p.m. at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.  This is an incredible opportunity to taste Zinfandels from 200+ of the state’s best Zinfandel producers sponsored by the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers association and, frankly, I’m jealous of whoever gets to go to this shindig. There are many, many things to love about Zin: it’s a versatile grape that can go from soft, fun and fruity to dark and brooding. (There are even port-like late-harvest Zinfandels out there – a great winter in-front-of-the-fire wine.) It’s also as American as apple pie, our unique contribution to the world of wine.

But because there’s no such thing as a free lunch — or free Zinfandel — there’s a catch. To snag the tickets, you’ll have to submit a haiku tribute to Zinfandel. I’ll select the two best submissions — finally, that literature degree comes in handy! — and award a pair of tickets to each winner. As a refresher, a haiku consists of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables each. (Zinfandel is already 3 syllables so you’ll have to be creative. “Zin” is a totally acceptable substitute.)

The deadline for submission is Friday, January 22, and I’ll publish the winners on the site. Email your submissions to me at sasha@spinthebottleny.com with the heading “Zinfandel haiku contest.” I would also love for the winners to send me a picture, video, tasting note or post from the event to share with the rest of the STBNY community after the event.

Good luck — and get writing!