Hank

Share / Like

Personal Information

About Me
I dream of a life of luxury, relaxing on a yacht in the Maldives or chilling out by the pool in a large chateau in southern France. In reality (a frustratingly persistent illusion) I'm an overworked, underpaid wage-slave with one foot in the grave and a liver the size of Canada.

I'm particularly fond of Aussie reds & NZ whites and that's why I'm here on BoozeMonkey: to learn.

I love drinking wine, but while I struggle daily with my inability to drink own body-weight in Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot at a single sitting, I console myself with the knowledge that I am blessed to have a supermodel-gorgeous wife and an Einstein-brilliant son. Thankfully he has both his mum's looks and her brains because I make Quasimodo look like Brad Pitt and I'm widely considered to be dumb as a sack of rocks... at least by those who know me well.

But I try not to let it bother me. Life's too short. You've got to take it easy and enjoy yourself. Relax. Live a little. Don't sweat the small stuff. And it's all small stuff.

More About Me

I love...
Hot summers and cold beer
Favourite Wine
All time favourite? It was probably a Brouilly I had over twenty years ago. But it wasn't the wine -- we drank far too much to know what we were drinking that night -- it was the company & the atmosphere. I don't know if it was good wine, but it was certainly a good night.

Location

Town / City
Sydney
Country
Australia

Whiskey, Scotch & Bourbon

Posted March 21, 2011

Whiskey may be Ireland's national drink, but it is truly a spirit of the world. Travelers across the globe, from the islands of Japan to the American south, seek surprising varieties and sip old favourites along the way. However, for newcomers it can be hard to get a foot in the door. To truly be...
Taking A Punt

Posted March 4, 2011

I like words. I like their sound. I like their meaning. And I like to know where they come from. For example, it gives me a kick to know that "toe the line" comes from the era of bare-knuckle fighting (a line was scratched in the dirt and the fighters were ordered to come together and put their ...
Lancashire pub launches first all-English wine list

Posted June 4, 2010

Lancashire pub launches first all-English wine list A Lancashire pub has launched the first all-English wine list in the UK. The Calf's Head in Worston near Clitheroe, northwest England, sourced wines from Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Dorset for its 16-strong all-English list, which went on sale in...
Two Buck Chuck Maker Sets Sights On Australia

Posted July 7, 2009

First there was the Two Buck Chuck. Now, there's the Three Dolla Koala. Fred Franzia, the CEO of the Bronco Wine Company which shook up the California wine world seven years ago with Charles Shaw wines (nicknamed the Two Buck Chuck because they sell for $2) has come up with "Down Under", a Chardonn...
BBC News Website Penis Enlargement Ad

Posted June 12, 2009

Okay, I know BoozeMonkey is a wine community and I know this has absolutely NOTHING to do with wine, but I didn't know who else to tell... you have to see this! I was just looking at the news on the BBC website when the advertisement caught my eye... it's not a spoof picture, it's real. I took a sc...

View All Entries

May 5, 2011 6:12:31 PM EST

in the topic New pop 'n' fizz app in the forum Wine Chat

Champagne app... am I the only one thinking "why?"
June 16, 2010 11:34:50 PM EST

in the topic ALL WINERIES - Wine Australia launches new strategy for Australi in the forum The Grapevine

WIthout wanting to sound TOO negative, are Wine Australia actually going to make any effort to promote this, or is it going to go the same way as their half-arsed "Regioinal Heroes" campaign?
February 14, 2009 11:59:14 PM EST

in the topic Love & Hate in the forum Just Chewing The Fat

Today is Valentine's Day! Hurray! Kiss me!

So I woke up in the mood for love. Sadly I was on my own at the time... no, please DON'T use your imagination... I made myself a cup of coffee and played myself a little light music, but I didn't end up taking advantage of myself.

Anyway, I was thinking about "love" and it struck me that there are few things in this world that you either love 100% whole-heartedly (the way I love tomatoes fresh from the vine) or hate with your entire being (like Marmite). So I got to thinking about the upsides and downsides of "things I love".

For example:

+ I love Australia because it's the only place in the world you can use the words "bastard" and "mate" interchangeably

+ But hate the way the wildlife (everything from spiders to sharks) seems hell-bent on killing you at every opportunity

What do you love and hate?
February 11, 2009 4:32:11 PM EST

in the topic Victoria Bushfire Appeal in the forum BoozeMonkey Site Announcements

Nice one Matt! They need all the help they can get right now. We should all do what we can to help.

Wonga Estate: Hi Hank, the bushfires were in the Yarra Valley and thankfully we were untouched. We are in serious
drought so send down some of that rain. By the way of love your profile. You're a funny man.
Jady
- March 26, 2009
Mount Gisborne Wines: Yes it is a griffin (collared) it is the montague family griffin and has links to Canada.
- March 25, 2009
Hank → Mount Gisborne Wines: I'm intrigued by all these different logos and labels. I bet there's a story behind every one of them. Is yours a griffin?
- March 25, 2009
Hank → Wonga Estate: I heard that Yarra Valley is where some of the recent fires were. I hope everything is okay with you. We saw pictures on the TV here and we can't imagine it of course. It's always so wet here that you couldn't start a fire if you wanted to.
- March 25, 2009
Hank → Yarrawood Estate: I heard that Yarra Valley is where some of the recent fires were. I hope everything is okay with you. We saw pictures on the TV here and we can't imagine it of course. It's always so wet here that you couldn't start a fire if you wanted to.
- March 25, 2009
Hank → Zilzie Wines: Hey, I've tried your wines and they were great! I went to the Good Food & Wine Show when I was in Sydney (what a day!) and really enjoyed it. I remember you because of the unusual name, but you were nice people too.
- March 20, 2009
Laini: oh dear oh well, um . letterbox it is
- March 3, 2009