It's Friday! What's Hot?! (29th May 2009)

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

:: THE GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW IS HOT!
[http://tinyurl.com/nry46n]
It's your last chance... your VERY LAST CHANCE. The winner of the Good Food & Wine Show competition will be decided in less than 48 hours, so if you haven't chased up the friends you invited (because they only count if they actually join...), then now is the time. Two lucky winners will each receive a pair of tickets to the show in Melbourne next weekend, and a bonus prize: a special decanting class by Riedel or to a food & wine pairing masterclass by TOP wine guy, Matt Skinner. Just click on the Good Food & Wine Show logo on the BoozeMonkey front page.


:: THE TALL TALES WINE COMPETITION IS HOT!
[http://tinyurl.com/cph575]
Fancy yourself as a bit of a funny guy, don't you, eh? No, I'm not picking a fight with you -- I just want to help you win some wine. Yarrawood Estate have kindly put up a six-bottle case of wine. And all you have to do to win is MAKE THEM LAUGH... Go to the competition page and enter now!

:: ROSCOE HALLIGAN IS HOT!
Calm yourself ladies, he's taken. Roscoe is hot this week because he has just graduated from uni (flying colours of course) and is now the proud holder of a degree in winemaking. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is keen to see him put it to good use. Congratulations, Roscoe!

:: AUSSIE WINEMAKERS ARE HOT!
Grancari, Kirrihill, Wirra Wirra and Galafrey Wines are ALL hot this week. Why? Because they sent samples for us to review of course! Nothing is guaranteed to put a smile on the shiny faces of the BoozeMonkey Team like a case of wine samples, and we look forward to tasting and reviewing them on the site for you soon. Don't forget, you can post your own wine reviews on BoozeMonkey, so if you sit down to a nice bottle with dinner over the weekend, why not post a review? We lead you through it step by step, the swirl, the sniff, the spit (hahaha, no we don't spit either!), and it's so easy ANYONE can do it. Try it!

As usual, I hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Matt
http://www.BoozeMonkey.com

BoozeMonkey Newsletter (25th May 2009)

To all those of you who are suffering from a cold, I hope you're not feeling as bad as I am. I thought last night might be my last...

:: AND THE WINNER IS...
The winner of our Wirra Wirra Wine competition will be announced tomorrow, so check on my blog on the BoozeMonkey website to see if you're a winner!

:: TALL TALES WINE COMPETITION
Our new competition is sponsored by Yarrawood Estate in the Yarra Valley. They are offering a half-dozen bottles of premium wine and all they want you to do is provide a funny caption for their photograph. We will be publishing the winner and the best runners up, so get your creative juices flowing and make us laugh! And let's see some of our winemakers taking part too... there has to be one or two of you who fancy a second career in standup...
[ http://www.boozemonkey.com/competition.php ]

:: THE GOOD FOOD AND WINE SHOW, MELBOURNE
As you know, The Good Food & Wine Show is being hosted in Melbourne (5th ~ 8th June) and we have two pairs of FREE TICKETS to give away. Not only that, but the first prize winners get entry to "School of Food & Wine Matching" masterclass with Matt Skinner (top bloke and friend to wine-lovers everywhere) and the second prize winners get entry to the "Riedel Decanting Class". Click on the Good Food & Wine Show logo on the front page for full details:
[ http://www.boozemonkey.com/gfws.php ]

:: WHY SO MANY MONKEYS?
Earlier this week, Veera asked a great question on the forum and so far she's not had a single response... why so many monkeys? She wants you to add a photograph to your profile instead of leaving the default Grumpy Monkey image. And we think that's a great idea too. So how about it? A photograph (even if it's not a photograph of you) makes your profile stand out from the crowd, it means people can see you when you come online, and it helps you make friends. Help brighten the place up a bit!

As usual, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Cheers,

Matt

BoozeMonkey Weekly (19th May 2009)

How was your weekend? I hope you had as much fun as we did. I took the missus and mini-Matt to the Botanical Gardens in Sydney on Sunday and we spent the afternoon chilling to the sounds of light jazz in a bar at Circular Quay, had a lazy saunter around the Opera House. Then we got mobbed by cockatoos and lorikeets on the way back to the car (eat biscuits at your peril in the Botanical Gardens). Watching the sun set over the Harbour Bridge from Mrs Macquarie's Chair... well, that just rounded the day off perfectly.

:: WIRRA WIRRA WINE COMPETITION
[ http://www.boozemonkey.com/competition.php ]
There are just a few days left if you want to win the six bottles of premium wine on offer from Wirra Wirra: the competition deadline is this weekend, so don't miss out! All you have to do is answer three easy questions (and they give you the answers...), so what are you waiting for? Login now and click on the Competition link at the top of the page.

:: THE GOOD FOOD AND WINE SHOW, MELBOURNE
[ http://www.boozemonkey.com/gfws.php ]
The Good Food & Wine Show is being hosted in Melbourne (5th ~ 8th June) and we have two pairs of FREE TICKETS to give away. Not only that, but the first prize winners get entry to "School of Food & Wine Matching" masterclass with Matt Skinner (top bloke and friend to wine-lovers everywhere) and the second prize winners get entry to the "Riedel Decanting Class". Winning couldn't be simpler: just invite your friends to join us on BoozeMonkey. Click on the Good Food & Wine Show logo on the front page for full details.

:: WINE-MAKERS MARKETING GROUP
[ http://www.boozemonkey.com/group.php?group_id=25 ]
Our in-house Wine-Marketing Whizz Sandie Holmes has had such a great response to her blog last week that she has set up a discussion group for wineries interested in learning more about the power of social media to promote their brands. Whether you're a novice or an old hand, there are always new tricks to learn, and sharing "best practice" helps everyone. And that's what BoozeMonkey is all about. I would advise all our industry members to join the group and subscribe to the blogs and discussion posts.

Hope you all have a great week!

Cheers,

Matt

It's Friday! What's Hot?! (15th May 2009)

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

:: THE WIRRA WIRRA WINE COMPETITION IS HOT! [http://tinyurl.com/cph575]
Competition sponsors Wirra Wirra have kindly put up a six-bottle case of wine (two each of their Church Block, Mrs Wigley and 12th Man wines), and all you need to do to be the lucky winner is to watch their funky video, answer three easy questions and tell us why you think YOU should win. Easy! Anthony Davies certainly thinks so -- he won last week's Galafrey Wine comp. And he says he's keen to get his hands on the Wirra Wirra wine too. Are you going to let him? Log in and enter now!

:: THE MONKEY MARKETING MOJO GROUP IS HOT! [http://tinyurl.com/r72opr]
Resident marketing whizz Sandie Holmes is getting a lot of attention with her blog aimed at helping our wine-makers make the most of social media to promote themselves, so she has set up a group: THE MONKEY MARKETING MOJO GROUP. If you're a winery, you really need to join up and subscribe to the discussion posts so that you get regular updates. Sandie will be answering questions, hosting discussions and offering handy hints and tips about publicity and marketing opportunities on the internet. Don't miss it!

:: THE GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW IS HOT!
Keep an eye on BoozeMonkey this weekend for the details of a special competition from The Good Food & Wine Show: free tickets to their up-coming Melbourne event and entry to a special new VIP section called The Decanter Bar.

:: SUNDAY LIFE MAGAZINE IS HOT!
If you're reading The Sun-Herald or The Sunday Age this weekend, flick through the pages of Sunday Life Magazine: I've heard on the grapevine (grapevine... do you see what I did there?) that they're publishing an article about BoozeMonkey. Fame at last! Drop me a line if you see our handsome-devil monkey, won't you?

As usual, have a great weekend!

Matt

BoozeMonkey Newsletter (12th May 2009)

Would you believe it? It's my parents' wedding anniversary today! Honestly, you couldn't wish to meet a nicer couple. So you don't mind if I wish them a Happy Annivesary do you? Okay, put it this way: who's newsletter is it?

:: WIRRA WIRRA WINE COMPETITION
The good folks at Wirra Wirra in McLaren Vale are sponsoring our new competition, and they've set just three easy questions to win six great bottles of wine: it's almost like they WANT you to win! So login and click on the Competition link at the top of the page. http://www.boozemonkey.com/competition.php

:: YARRAWOOD BLOG - DEVASTATING BUSH FIRES
It's tempting to have a chocolate-box image of wine-making: happy harvesters skipping merrily between the vines picking beautiful, unblemished fruit... but the truth is that wine-making can be a very tough business and along with the highs there are some crushing lows. One of those was the devastating bush fires in February this year in which many people lost their homes, their communities and even their loved ones. The smoke and the ashes may be gone now, but for many the legacy of the fires lives on: I would urge everyone to take a look at Yarrawood Estate's account of how they narrowly escaped losing their Yarra Vale winery on Black Saturday, and how the consequences of the fire will have far-reaching implications for their business over the course of the next year. http://www.boozemonkey.com/blog.php?user=yarrawood&blogentry_id=248

:: WINE SAMPLES & COMPETITION PRIZES
This last one is for the wineries: please don't forget that we are happy to review your wines on the site, and if you send us samples then we will make sure that they are reviewed in a timely fashion. Actually, as I write I am drinking a great 2007 Shiraz from Sylvan Springs (ripe plum and vanilla) and I must remind myself to write it up later... have I told you recently how much I love my job?

Finally, please also let us know if you are interested in sponsoring a competition (because our wine-loving BoozeMonkeys enjoy nothing more than winning free wine): we have sponsors lined up for the next few weeks, but we are always looking for new competition prizes, and it really is a great way to promote your brand.

All the best to you, Mum & Dad and Happy Anniversary -- I love you both and you can be sure I will be raising a glass to your good health this evening.

Cheers!

Matt

It's Friday! What's Hot?! (8th May 2009)

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

SANDIE HOLMES IS HOT! [http://tinyurl.com/cmxtwg]
Wine-marketing guru Sandie Holmes is the hottest thing in town! Her blog about Twitter and Facebook, and the shift in the way ordinary people & marketeers are using new internet technologies, was the most read article on the site this week. So if you haven't popped your Twitter cherry yet (or if you don't even know what Twitter is), then let Sandie walk you through it. Don't worry, she'll be gentle with you.

VINTAGE STORIES ARE HOT! [http://tinyurl.com/c23mqw]
With almost 650 hits, it's pretty clear that everyone is interested in reading our wineries' stories about vintage 2009. Please keep 'em coming guys! There are plenty of you who haven't told us how YOUR vintage went this year, and we're all eager for news.

THE GALAFREY WINES COMPETITION IS HOT! [http://tinyurl.com/cph575]
We extended the deadline for the Galafrey Wines competition and you've been coming up with some great reasons why YOU should win the $300 case of wine on offer: some funny, some poetic, and some just plain weird. But this is your last chance if you want to get a late entry in, or to put a second entry in (there's no rule against multiple competition entries). Good luck!

VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE HOT!
Check out the links below for some great images of vintage 2009. There are plenty more great shots on the site, so feel free to browse the photo albums (just click on ALBUMS on the task bar) to see more pictures of our beautiful wine country. A word of warning though: you'll probably want to quit your job and become a winemaker...

Stan Shaw : [http://tinyurl.com/czhfhg]
Matt, Marlborough : [http://tinyurl.com/dhys6u]
Delatite, Upper Goulburn : [http://tinyurl.com/c8zuo3]
GISA Wines : [http://tinyurl.com/c98gf3]
Windrush Wines, Mount Barker : [http://tinyurl.com/d4mpyu]
Bunker Bay Wines, Margaret River : [http://tinyurl.com/dlmmzv]
Creed Wines, Barossa : [http://tinyurl.com/c9e7un]

Have a great weekend!

Matt

BoozeMonkey Newsletter (5th May 2009)

May already? At this rate it will soon be Christmas! So much time, so little to do... no wait, scratch that, reverse it.

:: MOLLY'S CRADLE WINE COMPETITION
Congratulations to Kym from Ballina, the winner of our Molly's Cradle wine competition. For someone who calls herself a novice, you sure did good! Your prize is winging its way to you as we speak and we hope you enjoy every drop. We're also looking forward to reading your reviews on BoozeMonkey. Molly's Cradle will be back with another competition for you soon, offering you the opportunity to win a holiday at their 5-star lodge. More details to follow...

:: GALAFREY WINES COMPETITION
Kim and Linda are enjoying reading the madcap reasons why you think you should win a case of their outstanding wine S~O~O~O much that they have asked us to extend the competition deadline till the end of the week... just three easy questions to win a $300 mixed case of award-winning wines. You won't get another chance at this, so grab it while you can. The winner will be announced next week. http://www.boozemonkey.com/competition.php

:: WINE BLOGGERS
A quick shout out to a couple of our regular Stateside wine bloggers, Randy (http://tinyurl.com/dm52jz) and Alleigh (http://tinyurl.com/cwmpe6): check out their blogs and show them some love. And while you're at it, I think we need a bit more home-grown blogging talent, don't you? Roscoe's the only one waving the flag in the Southern hemisphere right now. So if you fancy yourself as a wine reviewer or a blogger -- even if you're not blogging about wine -- don't be shy, step up and have a crack. I'll make it worth your while... I need to make a couple of calls this week to our secret guest star (he's a busy guy), but there will be prizes for the best blog entries.

:: SANDIE'S BLOG
"Sandie... (sing along) can't you see..." Remember John Travolta in Grease? Now I'm showing my age. Okay, it's not the same Sandie, but I'm willing to bet that after a couple of Chardonnays she does a pretty good impression of Olivia Newton-John. Sandie Holmes is our wine-marketing guru from Adelaide who went on a voyage of discovery this week and got down and dirty with Twitter. And enjoyed it. So if you haven't lost your Twitter cherry yet, Sandie will tell you all you need to know to get you started: http://tinyurl.com/cmxtwg

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Matt