It's the last day of the month, and no doubt some of you will already be counting the sleeps till Xmas... I'm telling you, it won't be long till Santa's here. He always surprises me. I know he's coming, but somehow he manages to sneak up on me every year like a big fat red ninja.

At the end of every week we ask the same question : It's Friday! What's Hot?!

:: THE CAPPA STONE MOSCATO WINNERS ARE HOT!
And the winners are... brrrrrrrrr... (that's supposed to be a drumroll -- don't fight it, just go with it)... Alex, Laura Carey and RedHanded! Congratulations to the three of you. Your prizes will be with you shortly, and we hope you enjoy them. Commiserations to our losers of course, but thank you all for taking part: Dale at Cappa Stone told me he was delighted that so many people entered the competition, and it was really hard to pick the winners. Try not to be too disappointed if you didn't win: August will bring more opportunities to win some great prizes, so keep your eyes peeled.

:: BLOGS ARE HOT!
We've had some great blogs in this week, and looking at the most recent ones listed on the homepage, I can see Roscoe's posted a new one about the 2006 Chalambar Shiraz (and the poor guy's injured his glass-lifting arm, so he's probably had to drink it through a straw -- get well soon, mate), and Sandie's new one is called Purging the Plonkers: if that's not an eye-catching title, I don't know what is [http://tinyurl.com/m7xjv6].

We've also had a good few video blogs coming in, from simple introductions (Coonawarra looks like a nice place to live) to winter vine pruning in the Barossa. And BlowFly have managed to dig up some very old video footage about wine-tasting and its effects: watch till the end for the punchline [http://tinyurl.com/mljjdn].

:: WINE REVIEWS ARE HOT!
As you know, Matt Skinner is a friend of the Monkey, and wine reviews are very close to his heart. Well, we've twisted his arm again (not difficult because he's SUCH a nice guy) and we have some more copies of The Juice to give away. So what do you need to do to win one? Easy... the next time you open a bottle of wine, post a review on the site. Copies of The Juice will go to the reviews we like the best, and just to help you along, you can download a copy of our tasting notes here [http://tinyurl.com/l45acy]. Happy reviewing!

Talking of Santa (yes we were, try to keep up), someone tell me this: why is it that we warn our kids about talking to strangers, yet every December we tell them a big fat guy with a beard is going to break into the house from the roof and eat all the mince pies, and we expect them to be excited about it? What's that about?! No wonder kids are confused.

If you have an answer to this, or to any of life's other mysteries, drop me a line on my blog: I'd love to hear from you.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Matt

What a beautiful day! I've just finished lunch looking out over the garden (cockatoos are ripping big chunks out of the oranges on the tree as I write) and washed it down with an excellent Petit Verdot from the guys at Warrumbungle (aka Blowfly): maybe it's something in the volcanic soil there in Coonabarabran, but the flavour was really intense. Nice work boys!

At the end of every week we ask the same question : It's Friday! What's Hot?!

:: THE CAPPA STONE WINE COMPETITION IS HOT!
Today's your last chance to win yourself some Cappa Stone Moscato. Just click here, answer a few short questions, and you could be one of our THREE winners.

:: WINE EVENTS ARE HOT!
What are you up to this weekend? Nothing planned? Check out the events for your area on the site. In Melbourne they're running a Put Victoria On Your Table event: thankfully it has more to with Victoria the place rather than my cousin Victoria who has a phobia about dining room furniture and would be horrified at the idea of being put on a table... Oh, come on, it's Friday!

And next weekend the Good Food & Wine Show is in Perth, so mark that one down in your diary too. We would love to be there, stunning the public with our monkey as we did in Sydney a few weeks ago, but unfortunately we can't make it this time: we're planning to be at the Brisbane event in November though. We'll keep you posted.

:: WINE REVIEWS ARE HOT!
What are you drinking this weekend? Do you have a bottle or two put aside, or will you hit the bottle-shop later this afternoon to pick something up after work? If you try a nice drop or two over the weekend, do me a favour and add a quick review on the site, would you? It's so easy to do, and we will make sure you get plenty of readers. PLUS, we're on the lookout for wine reviewers and bloggers right now, and there are exciting developments in the pipeline for the more gifted writers amongst you. So get your creative juices flowing and show us what you've got!

The cockatoos are on the grapefruit tree now...

Have a great weekend, BoozeMonkies!

Matt

Another sunny Tuesday. Everything looks better in the sunshine, doesn't it? It kind of makes me wish I had windows in the dungeon here at the BoozeMonkey Castle.

:: CAPPA STONE MOSCATO COMPETITION
If you've not entered the Cappa Stone competition, you'd better pull your finger out: the deadline is this weekend. These guys make some seriously good Moscato, and all you need to do is answer the EASY questions on the competition page. Here is it -- do it NOW!

:: GALAFREY WINES WINTER DINNER
Not sure what to make for dinner? Well if you're in Perth then tonight's your lucky night: Galafrey Wines will be showcasing some of their exciting new releases at the Matilda Bay Restaurant. There will also be a mystery wine competition and some great door prizes. Click here for more details.

:: EVIAN ROLLER BABIES
If you want to see something REALLY cool (although it's also a bit disturbing at the same time...), then take a look at the Evian Roller Babies. As far as I can tell this has NOTHING to do with bottled water, but it is still unmissable.

Now if that doesn't prove the power of video then nothing will, which is why we're saying to our winemakers BRING US YOUR VIDEOS. It can be a flashy, Spielberg production with a great soundtrack like Wirra Wirra's or it can be a dangerous, taking-your-own-life-in-your-hands-style documentary like the "Wild Yeast" episode from Phaedrus. You know where to find me...

As usual, I hope you all have a great week. And make sure you enjoy the sunshine. Unless you're a goth of course, in which case you'll probably spend the day lying on the floor in your room with the curtains closed listening to The Cure. C'mon, we've all done it...

Cheers!

Matt

Is it just me, or did you feel a touch of Spring in the air today? Maybe it's just nice to see the sun again after all the rain we've been having. I'm not a big fan of clouds.

:: CAPPA STONE WINE COMPETITION
Cappa Stone is a small wine company in the Murray Darling region of Victoria with a passion for making ripping wines from Italian varieties. Now is your chance to win some in our new competition. You will find the link on the front page of the website.

:: NEW FEATURES
WINE REVIEWS have really taken off since we launched the feature a few weeks ago, but I think there are plenty more budding wine writers out there who are still hanging back, too nervous to show their true colours. If you're one of them, why not give it a try this week? We hold your hand and lead you through, and it really couldn't be easier. So if you try a good bottle this week, don't keep it to yourself -- let us all in on the secret.

And while you're at it, don't forget to check out the EVENTS on the front page of the website (scroll down to the bottom of the page): it's your chance to find out about the latest tastings and events going on in your area. CHAT is becoming increasingly popular too, so say hello when your friends are on line and join the fun. And there is now a link to POLLS on the front page of the site too (on the right) so don't forget to add your vote. If you want to set up your own POLL, just go to MY APPS : the same place you go to write a blog, to post a FORUM comment or to set up a GROUP.

:: ADVERTISERS
Our advertisers are those generous companies who enable BoozeMonkey to keep running. Without them the cupboard would be very bare in the Monkey house. So please show them some love: WineIQ, Galafrey, Milldale, Red Frog, Caught Redhanded... We are always keen to hear from new advertisers too of course, so feel free to drop us a line and we will be happy to help: we can even create your banner artwork for free.

As usual, I hope you have a great week.

Cheers!

Matt

I'm a little behind this week (no Kylie Minogue jokes necessary...) because I'm still trying to catch up after spending the weekend with some of Australia's finest at the Good Food & Wine Show...

:: SYDNEY GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW
It was just three days (and one long night), but it was fantastic to chat to people about BoozeMonkey and to see them all enjoying so many wonderful and varied regional wines. The show itself was a real blast, and it was great to get out in public for the first time to see what people really think of BoozeMonkey: I was confident we would have a good reception, but I really wasn't prepared for just how enthusiastic everyone would be. It couldn't have gone better -- you guys rock! I also managed to catch up with Matt Skinner (yes, he is every bit as nice as everyone says he is) who has generously offered us some more copies of his best-selling book The Juice. Keep your eyes peeled for a competition coming soon!

And the wine... there just wasn't enough time to get around to tasting everything on offer (especially since I was supposed to be working) but I was lucky enough to try some SERIOUSLY outstanding wines: they were all good of course, but among my favourites were Majella's sparkling Shiraz, Tambourlaine's Muscat, Arrowfield's Shiraz, Buller's Tawny Port and Bunnamagoo's Semillon Botrytis. I'm already looking forward to the next show -- unfortunately I can't make the Perth one a few weeks from now, but I've already pencilled in Brisbane for November.

:: NEW FEATURES
Just a quick reminder that Events Listings are now live on the site, and you will find a list of up-coming events on the BoozeMonkey front page (scroll down to the bottom). This is so our winemakers can tell you about any tasting sessions, product launches, cellar door offers or shows they are hosting, giving you the opportunity to get in on the action. You will also see that we now have a list of recent Polls on the front page (on the right-hand-side under the recent forum posts), making it easier to vote on a poll or to create your own.

:: AND THE WINNER IS...
The winner of last week's Caught Redhanded competition was Debra Cannon of Queensland! Congratulations, Debra. We hope you enjoy your prize, and we look forward to reading your reviews. I'm particularly interested to hear what you think about the Fortified NV: I was really impressed by that. It's my birthday soon... maybe I can persuade Phil to send me another bottle!

The answers? Well, I can tell you that Phil was very impressed with everyone's efforts and honourable mention went to Roscoe and to Judi Adams for the research they put in -- impressive stuff guys! You will find the answers on Caught Redhanded's blog.

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Matt