:: FRIENDS AND TANK RATS ARE HOT!
Self-confessed Kiwi tank rat Lar works at the Bendigo Tafe and is looking for buddies on BoozeMonkey. She's surprised that we're not a friendlier bunch. And to be honest, that surprises me too. Sure, we all love a few glasses of wine, and we love knowing what our mates are drinking, but BoozeMonkey is about MORE than just wine. It's about making friends and getting to know each other. Isn't it? So that's your homework for the weekend... pick three people at random from the site and make friends with them. Just add them to your friends list and leave a comment on their profile page. Just about anything seems fine to open a conversation these days, but I've found "I'm Matt, what are you wearing?" still doesn't get me very far.

So today's question is about chat-up lines. I'm not suggesting you start getting frisky with each other on BoozeMonkey (although don't let me stop you if you find each other irresistible), but I would like to know what are your best (or your worst) chat-up lines. How do you break the ice at the bar? Do you go for the cheesy "heaven must be missing an angel..."? Or are you more direct? "Hi, I'm Matt. Get your coat, you've pulled..."

:: THE KARRIBINDI WINE COMPETITION IS HOT!
Last chance! All aboard the Karribindi Express! The Karribindi New-Release Wines competition ends on Sunday, so if you haven't entered yet, DO IT NOW! Two lucky winners will each receive a three-pack of the new releases, and all for telling us what the Karribindi name means...

:: THE BOOZE CRUISE IS HOT!
I mentioned it earlier this week and there has been lots of interest in the Booze Cruise we're helping to organise. Beautiful boat, beautiful wine, and a large group of journos, celebs and influential types. If you're interested in show-casing your wines, just let me know and I will send you further details. We will be selecting the wines during the first couple of weeks in December so we need to hear from you soon.

And there has also been a load of interest from our regular monkey crowd, wanting to know how THEY can get in on the act. Well, unfortunately this one is just for the industry guys, but if there is sufficient interest then I don't see why we shouldn't organise a similar event for everyone else. Imagine a boatful of monkeys and limitless booze...

Have a great weekend!

Matt

So what have you got planned for Xmas? Are you going away somewhere? It always surprises me that anyone would want to leave Australia when we've got the best weather in the world (if El Nino will sort itself out) over the summer period, but it seems prime time to go exploring, so what do you have in mind? Visiting rellies abroad? Maybe skiing in Hokkaido? I hear Paris is nice in December...

Me? Well, I'll be making the most of things here in Sydney I think, but that's by choice. I love summer. Winter? Well that's a different story altogether. That's when I would love to jet off to Tuscany or Provence and spend a few months in a private villa with the pool. Where would you live if money was no object?

:: KARRIBINDI WINE COMPETITION

This weeks' competition is sponsored by Margaret River wine producers Karribindi, famous for their award-winning whites (although they have a Shiraz which has bling too). TWO lucky BoozeMonkeys will win their three-pack this week, and all you have to do is answer ONE SIMPLE QUESTION. Honestly, our winemakers make it TOO EASY for you guys.

>>> CLICK HERE TO ENTER! <<<

:: BOOZE CRUISE

An afternoon on the water in Sydney Harbour sounds like fun, doesn't it? Especially if the boat has more good booze on board than you know what to do with... Man, I wish I could invite you along too, but this one's strictly industry-only I'm afraid.

The Kimberley Quest, a beautiful boat which normally cruises the Kimberley Coast, is coming to Sydney for a couple of months. We're helping to organise a PR shindig to fill it full of travel, food & wine writers and we're looking for sponsors...
WINEMAKERS, THIS MEANS YOU!

We plan to have about 80 journalists and editors on board from the dailies, the glossies and online media, so this is a perfect opportunity to get your brand in front of them, to get your wine down their necks and to angle for a review or a write-up.

We will be there, monkey-ing it up, pressing the flesh and pouring the wine, so anyone who may be interested in helping sponsor the event should email me here: matt@boozemonkey.com

Short and sweet today, so I'll love you and leave you.

Have a great week,

Matt 

Another hot and sticky afternoon in Sydney: it's about now that I usually start wishing we had a pool at Castle BoozeMonkey. And air-conditioning. Looks like I'll have to make do with few chilled whites over the weekend.

:: ASIAN FUSION NIGHT IN ADELAIDE
There are still a couple of tickets left for the Caught Redhanded Asian Fusion night at T-Chow in Adelaide this weekend, so if you're in the mood for a top feed and if you would like to try some of Phil Rogers' new release wines (as well as some old favourites) then call him NOW (0419 252 967): the new Shiraz alone is worth the ticket price!

>>> Click here for the full menu and the winelist <<<

:: WIN A CHANCE TO WORK VINTAGE 2010 WITH KIRRIHILL
Many wine-lovers harbour a hidden dream of giving up their day-jobs and moving to one of Australia’s most picturesque wine regions to make a living hand-crafting stunning wines... what could be better than stomping your own grapes and helping make wine with one of the country's top winemakers? Well here's your chance! Kirrihill are running a competition to join them for vintage. CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

:: NZ WINE ONLINE COMPETITION WINNER
A little late (my fault) but we can announce the winner of our NZ Wine Online competition: David Curran, come on down! Congratulations David, you win six bottles of New Zealand wine and we look forward to reading your reviews on the site when you have tried them. I would like to tell you what's in the box, but apparently it's a secret... surprise us!

:: THE FRIDAY CHUCKLE
Sandie sent me this earlier in the week and now I know why I keep waking up with a headache. If you're a cat-lover, you'll love it.



Have a great weekend.

Cheers!

Matt

What IS going on with this weather? Seriously... a few short years ago you could pretty much guarantee warm sunny weather all through Spring. But a couple of weeks ago it was miserable and rainy, then we had a sudden heat-wave and now we seemed to have hit another cool patch. Someone explain this global warming thing to me again because I'm just not getting it. Or is this the work of El Nino? Anyone?

Whatever it is, our grape-growers can't be having an easy time of it. It's good news in the UK though, where there are now apparently 400 vineyards, with new ones springing up at a rate of one a week. There are also unconfirmed reports that the French are buying up land on the South coast to migrate their vines to when the climate prevents them from making wine back home... some say as little as 10 years from now!

Anyway, with the weather running hot and cold as it is, I find I'm still craving winter food to keep me warm instead of hitting the salad as I usually do at this time of year. And so tonight we're having oxtail soup: not the flavourless gunk you find in a can, but the real deal -- a full ox tail, braised with onions, potatoes & carrots, then slow-cooked in beef stock for 5 hours till the meat is melting off the bone... good soup is a thing of the gods. The problem is, what to drink with it? Pinot Noir, maybe? I'm open to suggestion. Phil? Roscoe? Ryan? Don't let me down, guys.

At the end of every week we ask the same question ::

IT'S FRIDAY! WHAT'S HOT?!

:: NZ WINE ONLINE COMPETITION
Six bottles of premium New Zealand wine are on offer in this week's competition which ends on Sunday: enter now before you forget! All you need to do is answer ONE question (yes, only ONE... mad, isn't it?) to get your name in the hat. You'd be crazy not to...

:: "HOW TO..." VIDEOS
With eleven videos under his belt and another one bubbling under the surface for this weekend ("wine reviews") Marc is positively enjoying his new-found fame. He's still waiting to mobbed Beatle-like in the street by screaming girls (don't hold your breath buddy) but comments from well-wishers about his twitch, his cone-shaped head and his speech impediment are keeping his spirits high.

Here is the list so far: let him know if you have any requests (and please, try to keep them clean).

:: BLOG OF THE WEEK
Blog of the week goes to Roscoe for Yarra Valley Legends: can you believe it's not even a year since the fires? I wonder how the Yarra Valley is faring now?

:: THE FRIDAY CHUCKLE
No jokes today, just a link to a phenomenal website: I discovered it today via one of our new members and it is almost as amazing as it is digusting. THIS IS WHY YOU'RE FAT is simply a collection of food photographs, but food which seems to have been designed with heart-attack in mind. I think my favourite has to be this one... "Deep Fried Chocolate Cake" 

And with that in mind, I'm off to tend to my soup/stew.

Enjoy the weekend.

Cheers!

Matt

A scorcher today. Beautiful! Time to break out the white and the rose at last...

:: NZ WINE ONLINE COMPETITION
Win six bottles of top New Zealand wine in this week's competition. Answering a single question (yes, just ONE) will guarantee your name goes in the hat, so what are you waiting for?!

:: "HOW TO..." VIDEOS
As I mentioned last week, on the right-hand side of the homepage (under the New Members section) there is a link to "BOOZEMONKEY 101 VIDEOS". BIG NOSE has been at it again (fortunately you don't need to look at his ugly mug this time, just listen to the incessant, irritating nasal whine of his voice) and he's recorded a couple more "HOW TO..." videos which will be uploaded later this afternoon. Please take a look... I'm the one who gets it in the neck if he doesn't get any hits.

:: CALLING ALL WINERIES!
Talking of videos, The Corkscrew Diary is a US film production company (and a good friend to BoozeMonkey) and they are aiming to travel to Oz and NZ next year to do a series of promotional films at "destination wineries", with a view to syndicating the programs and promoting Australian and and New Zealand wines throughout the USA. If you're interested (and I can't think why you wouldn't be: that's the sort of publicity to you'd sell your kids for... well, the spotty one with the greasy hair anyway...), you should contact Jeffry Gordon. I know he is keen to hear from anyone who wants in on the idea.

:: A TICKET TO EL BULLI
This is a great story which caught my eye: Jules Clancy is a Sydney girl who loves her food, and she was delighted when she managed to book a table at El Bulli, "the world's best restaurant". Apparently no-one complains that they call it that because everyone agrees that it's true. Anyway, Jules booked the table last year (they only take bookings on one day each year!) but just recently she split up with her boyfriend, and rather than let the once-in-a-lifetime El Bulli opportunity slip away, she's decided to run a competition-cum-blind-date for someone to join her. Which I think is VERY cool. And if I thought Mrs Monkey would still be here when I got back, I might throw my own hat in the ring (but she would leave me and take all the furniture too).

What do you think? Do you know any die-hard foodies who would tear off their right arm (and saute it with shallots and wild mushrooms) to win the chance to eat at El Bulli? I think it's a great idea.

Okay, that's me for today. As usual, I hope you all have a great week, and if you have the good fortune to snag a good bottle of wine, let us know in the wine reviews section.

Actually, (talking of good bottles of wine) we've just received a bottle of Caught Redhanded's new Rose in the mail, so that's going in the chiller for later: by all accounts it's a ripper, so I'm really looking forward to trying it. And I believe it's one of the wines which winemaker Phil Rogers will be showcasing at his Asian Fusion Wine Extravaganza on 21st November. Check out the Events listings for further details.

Cheers!

Matt

Another busy day and another week closer to Christmas. I can almost smell the heady aroma of reindeers roasting on an open fire. The fat man's on his way... Won't be long now.

At the end of every week we ask the same question...

IT'S FRIDAY! WHAT'S HOT?!

:: THE GOOD FOOD AND WINE SHOW IS HOT!
Jane at Red Frog reminded me the other day that the Good Food and Wine Show is on this weekend at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibtion Centre: Friday 6th November to Sunday 8th November. It's always a great event, loads of food and cooking shows with the likes of Gary & George from Master Chef and Toby Puttock. And some of the country's best winemakers of course.

Our good friends Blowfly will be there (so go and say "hi" to them) and they will be handing out BoozeMonkey stickers for us to, so go and get yourself stickered up with a big grinning monkey. You know it makes sense. While you're there, you should try some of their wine too. My favourite is The Maelstrom, an amazing wine with such a deep flavour, and a great story behind it too. Ask the Blowfly boys to tell you about it. They love a good yarn.

:: BOOZEMONKEY VIDEOS ARE HOT!
You will notice on the right hand side of the homepage (under the New Members section) there is a yellow block with a link to "BOOZEMONKEY 101 VIDEOS". There's another link in the maroon bar at the top of the page too. These are a series of "HOW TO..." videos aimed at helping you find your way around BoozeMonkey and helping you to make the most of it. Don't know how to change your profile photograph? Check the video out. Don't know how to write a wine review? It's in the videos. Want to find friends on BoozeMonkey? It's all here...

There are more videos to follow, but it would be great to get some feedback on the current ones. And if you have any ideas for NEW videos you would like to see, please let us know: leave your comments below.

:: THE FRIDAY CHUCKLE
Okay, we had a blonde joke last week and that seemed to ruffle a few feathers. Let's see if we can get the animal-lovers' backs up this week...

A man walks into a pub with a duck under one arm and a biscuit tin under the other.

He puts a dollar in the jukebox, places the biscuit tin on the bar and puts the duck on top of the biscuit tin.

The music kicks in and the duck immediately starts tap-dancing, hammering his little webbed feet on top of the tin in time to the music and drawing quite a crowd, who are all so impressed that they throw money into the man's hat (which he had conveniently left next to the duck) and he makes about $100.

The barman is very impressed and thinks the duck generate some great publicity and bring in more punters, so he offers to buy it from the man for $1000. The man is reluctant to sell, but the barman is determined and they settle on $2000. The man leaves with a pocketful of cash, minus the duck.

The next weekend, the man goes back to the bar for a drink and the barman says angrily, "Oi! You cheated me! I did exactly what you did, put the music on, put the biscuit tin on the bar and the duck on top, but he refuses to dance for me. I've tried it every night this week and every time I've ended up looking like a right idiot! I want my money back!"

"Let me take a look," the man says, taking the top off the biscuit tin.

"Ahhh, there's your problem," he says. "The candles have gone out."

Like I said last time, don't get angry with me if you can't do better. I'm happy to stop telling my bad jokes if you send me some good ones. C'mon, gimme your best shot!

Don't be shy, leave your comments below: all comments are published on the site, so feel free let us know what you think about the website, about the government, about the weather... and tell me what you're up to this weekend: I fancy a movie and a good bottle of red.

Cheers!

Matt

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I can't believe it's Wednesday afternoon already! Normally I'm looking forward to weekend about now, but I'm up to my eyes in work, my desk is piled high and there's no sign of things slowing down. I need a Girl Friday... any takers?

:: BIG NOSE IS BACK!
Our esteemed leader decided that it would be a good idea to do some video walk-throughs of the BoozeMonkey features to guide people through: the question we get asked most is "how do I...?" so it makes sense to show you rather than to write it down and ask you to follow the instructions. We're in the digital age, after all.

But with me working flat out on other things, he somehow got it into his head that he should have a crack at the videos himself. Fair play to him for trying of course, but if ever a bloke had a face for radio... and whoever stole his eyebrows, if you could just stuff them in an envelope and mail them back to him here at BoozeMonkey HQ, I know he would be grateful.

Anyway, you will notice on the right hand side of the homepage (under the New Members section) there is a link to "BOOZEMONKEY 101 VIDEOS". There's another link in the maroon bar at the top of the page too.

I'm told that more videos will follow later this week (oooh, the excitement!) but it would be great to get some feedback on the current ones (be blunt, he's got a thick skin). And if you have any ideas for NEW videos you would like to see, please let us know: you can leave comments at the bottom of the page.

:: WINE SAMPLES FOR VIDEO REVIEWS
Talking of videos, we're working on video wine reviews with a Sommelier here in Sydney (you will meet him soon), so we're putting the call out to all our wineries for samples: if you would like us to review your wine then please forward your samples to:

BoozeMonkey HQ
21 Fallon Drive
Dural, NSW 2158

:: NZ WINE ONLINE COMPETITION
There's no competition this week, but I'm giving you a heads-up for next week because NZ Wine Online will be our competition sponsor. I will let you know the prize details next Tuesday, but if you take a look at their website, you will see that it's jam-packed with over 200 great Kiwi wines. I wouldn't mind winning some of that myself. Maybe they won't recognise me if I wear a hat...

Okay, that's all from me for today. I hope that you enjoy what's left of the week, and that you manage to squeeze some fun out of Thursday & Friday.

Cheers!

Matt