In July of last year, I almost absentmindedly entered my first writing competition. Like most people who enjoy writing and blogging, but have never been published or formally acknowledged for their scribbles, I always assumed my work was perfectly average. Not horrible, but let’s just say there won’t be a Pulitzer in my future. After some prodding and poking from a few people, I sat down and wrote two pieces. One was to be 800 words about the difference between wines enjoyed as “quaffers” and wines that do justice to a certain cuisine. The other, a short blog post on the most unusual wine I’ve ever tasted.