Continuing our Australian theme for the month, our October prize is a must-have for all lovers of wine from the land Down Under.

James Halliday is the authority on Australian wine with an unparalleled knowledge of the industry gained over 40 years making, tasting, judging and writing about wine. His Australian Wine Companion has become the indispensible handbook for professional and amateur enthusiasts for this increasingly diverse and ever-more exciting country.

The 2011 edition is just out, with a staggering 1,487 winery reviews, ratings on over 6,000 wines and a whole lot more on the regions, vintages and information for visitors.

We’ve one copy to give away along with two bottles from one of Halliday’s top-rated 5 red star wineries, including a 93-pointer!

To enter, all you need to do is answer this simple question:

Langmeil’s Freedom Shiraz is produced from what are believed to be the world’s oldest surviving Shiraz vines, in the Freedom vineyard, Barossa Valley. In what year were these vines planted?

Simply leave your answer along with your name in the comments below and you’re in the draw. Just remember to leave us your email address when you’re leaving your comment - email addresses will not be displayed publicly and will not be used for anything other than contacting you if you win.

One lucky winner will be pulled from the hat from all entries here and on our Facebook page where you can also leave your answer. Best of luck!

Congratulations to Jonathan Flack, winner of our September Indian Summer Chillin’ contest. A super snazzy wine cooler and two bottles of Muddy Water’s finest are on their way to you, Jonathan.

With the surprise arrival of my girlfriend into Curious Wines on Saturday afternoon after a four hour drive from Armagh (she must love me), I decided a night out in Cork City was required. I called Fenns Quay restaurant to book a table for two. We needed a food and wine fix fast, and boy we got it.

I had confidence in this choice of restaurant because of the recommendations from previous clientèle and I knew Kevin at Fenns Quay is a passionate man for his wine. Too many restaurateurs can’t see anything past profit margins on a wine list, so it’s great to see someone making a name for themselves through their wine offering as well as their food.

I ordered a Clonakilty black pudding starters and Bronagh opted for mushroom-pastry-type dish. We were in a mood for a red meat main course, so I got Slaney Valley lamb chump and Bronagh went for the char-grilled 10oz sirloin steak. Both were cooked to perfection. Rare, not blue, but rare. I find when you ask for medium-rare in Ireland, you more than often get medium. Ask for rare on the continent, and you’ll get blue.

Everything was excellently presented, the seasoning and flavours were balanced, and the atmosphere was relaxed. The wine list certainly didn’t disappoint either, a good selection offering the usual suspects (Italian Pinot Grigio, Aussie Shiraz) as well as a number of wines that you won’t see everywhere, including an Austrian Grüner Veltliner and an Italian Grillo.

I needed something edging on big and bold for the main course, so my mind was made up (with the help of Kevin) by the Doña Paula Argentian Malbec. I understand we received one of the very last bottles. The back label would lead you to expect red fruit on the nose, and this might have been the case when young, but this ‘07 was showing darker fruits on the nose (dark cherry, blackberry) and even a little licorice. The palate was beautifully rounded, medium-full bodied with melt-in-your month tannins and another good whack of blackberry. It just added that extra 20-30% to the whole experience.

Obviously the standard of the food is the most important thing when eating out, but the experience as a whole can be diminished by a poor value wine list. I recently went to a very popular Cork restaurant and the food was excellent but the wine disappointing. I believe Kevin and his team delivered excellent value on both fronts, as well as very attentive and friendly service. Cork has a brilliant culinary scene, but if you’re around the city any time soon, don’t miss out on a truly great dining experience at Fenns Quay.

Check out Paul Kieron’s (Grapes of Sloth) take on Fenns Quay here. More details available on menupages.ie

With the fair weather set to continue, we’re crossing our fingers for an Indian summer to counter the back-to-school blues and prolong the holiday hoopla. Don’t pack that picnic basket away in the loft just yet, as we’ve a super snazzy, ultra-handy picnic wine chiller to give away in September’s prize draw.

Complete with insulated twin-bottle storage, glasses, napkins, corkscrew, stopper and side-pockets galore, this is one for that boozy summer lunch on the beach or in the local park. And to help you on your way, we’ve two bottles from one of New Zealand’s coolest wineries to fill it - a silky, dreamy Sauvignon Blanc and the brand new, decadently scrumptious Deliverance red from Muddy Water. (The banjo’s optional.)

How to Enter: All you have to do to get in the draw is ‘friend us up’ on our Facebook page. We’ll draw one lucky winner at random in September from all our fans and post it here and on Facebook.

Last month, we had a hand-crafted New Zealand theme, with a beautiful Rimu cheese board and two bottles from Nelson’s Greenhough estate up for grabs. Congratulations to Joe Burke, drawn at random from our Facebook friends this morning, to win our August contest. Rimu board (it really *is* beautiful!) and two bottles on their way to you Joe.

Celebrating our best ever deals on New Zealand wine this month, we’re giving away a beautiful, handcrafted Rimu cheese board, along with two bottles of our favourite handcrafted wines from Andrew Greenhough, who kindly contributed to the blog last week.

Rimu is one of New Zealand’s tallest indigenous trees, growing to over 50 metres and reaching an age of 700-800 years at maturity. This piece comes from salvaged logs which sank to the bottom of Lake Brunner, on the South Island’s west coast, around 100 years ago, and preserved by the cool temperatures of the deep lake. After delicate drying, woodturner Peter Allnutt has skillfully turned this beautiful raw material into a real work of art for the dining table.

We’ll deliver the board plus the bottles of Greenhough Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir to one lucky winner pulled from the hat in August’s prize draw.

How to Enter: All you have to do to get in the draw is ‘friend us up’ on our Facebook page. We’ll draw one lucky winner at random in August from all our fans and post it here and on Facebook.

Last month, we were giving away two Luckeboxes, a New World Wine Box and a Box 4 Cooks, to celebrate our partnership with the innovative new shopping website. Congratulations to Ewan Elmer and Andrew Wilson, drawn at random from our Facebook friends this morning, to win our July contest. Luckeboxes on the way to you guys, hope you enjoy (we’ll keep you guessing as to which one you’ve won!).

The results are in, the feedback has been published, all we have to do now is give away some wine.

A final thanks to everyone who participated in our National Wine Drinkers Survey. We drew this morning, at random, from the over 500 completed surveys, and our lucky winner is Thomas Gaffney.

Congratulations Thomas! A mix of our favourite wines worth €200 will be on its way to you today. Thanks for contributing, we trust you’ll enjoy.

We’re delighted to announce, via our July contest, our exclusive association with an exciting new concept to Ireland’s online marketplace: Luckebox.

Luckebox is an innovative response to tough times - a fun, risk-free, value-led shopping site, offering extreme value for today’s trendiest items from gadgets to gourmet. You can follow them on Twitter @luckebox, and check out the fantastic Falling Price Auction, their last minute, countdown clear-out, for the best possible value on a ton of cool stuff.

As the exclusive wine partner to Luckebox, we’ve two Luckeboxes to give away as prizes in our July contest:

• A New World Wine Box, featuring six of our best from Australia, Chile and South Africa; and
• A Box 4 Cooks, fitting with our other great obsession, a box of tricks for the kitchen.

How to Enter: All you have to do to get in the draw is ‘friend us up’ on our Facebook page. We’ll draw two winners at random in July from all our fans and post it here and on Facebook.

Congratulations to Karl Strecker, drawn at random from our Facebook friends this morning, to win our June contest. Our South African prize pack is on it’s way to you Karl, we hope you enjoy.

This month, in anticipation of a World Cup frenzy in June, we’re jumping the gun and celebrating the New World’s oft forgotten hero, South Africa. (Ok, ok, we know the South Africans have been producing wine there for around 350 years but we didn’t come up with the classifications!).

This month’s featured prize is the chance to brush up on your knowledge of the regions, the grapes and the winemakers of this astonishingly beautiful country, with The Essential Guide to South African wines: Terroir and Travel, by Elmari Swart and Izak Smit.

Updated in 2009, this stunning guide presents the wine-producing regions in the uncomplicated Wine Pockets system, highlighting a specific terroir unit along with local wine styles, providing insight into the unique qualities of each wine-producing area. Every pocket takes you on a meaningful journey, discovering the terroir, viticulture, winemaking techniques and flagship wines of some of the premium producers. More than 300 commissioned photographs and full-colour illustrations will have you itching to get out there and experience South Africa for yourself.

We’ve one copy of this beautiful book along with two bottles from the outstanding Elgin Vintners to give away in June’s prize draw.

How to Enter: All you have to do is become a fan (or as they say now, “like” us) on our Facebook page. We’ll draw a winner at random in June from all our fans and post it here and on Facebook.

Congratulations to Aisling Dearle, Facebook friend and winner of our May contest. Oz Clarke’s Bordeaux is on its way to you Aisling, along with two lovely bottles of Chateau Bauduc. Enjoy!

It’s to Bordeaux we turn our attention this month as we attempt to remove the la-de-da and introduce a bit of ooh-la-la to the world’s most renowned wine region.

‘There is no better introduction to the world’s most dazzling wine region’, declared Decanter magazine on Oz Clarke’s Bordeaux.

We don’t think there’s a more accessible wine writer in the world, so we thought what better place to start for our May contest. We’ve a copy of this deliciously descriptive and beautifully presented book to give away, along with two bottles of Oz-recommended Chateau Bauduc.

How to Enter: We’re changing the entry criteria slightly this month, but it’s still a cinch to enter - all you have to do is become a fan (or be one already) on our Facebook page. We’ll draw a winner at random in May and post it here and on Facebook.

Congratulations to Tony Owens, winner of our April contest, Poncho y Vino! Prizes on the way to you Tony.

Clandestine parcels aside, this month’s all about Chile, so our April contest needed a related theme. Our first thought was a big pot of Mum’s chilli con carne but transport and keeping it warm was always going to be an issue (ok, really bad play on words in any case!).

Thankfully, with the unusually long and chilly winter we’ve been having (ok, we really have to stop now with the cheesy puns), our good friends in Santa Alicia sent us over a couple of Chilean ponchos to keep us warm in the Curious Wines warehouse. You could prise Matt’s from his cold dead hands but, preferring to keep him alive and warm, we’ve put the other one up for this month’s contest, along with a couple of bottles of our favourite Chileans’ finest.

(It’s not Mum’s chilli, but it’s a good second best.)

How to Enter: All you have to do to enter the contest is join (or already be a member of) our monthly newsletter. We’ll draw a winner at random in April when our next newsletter goes out. You are of course completely welcome to un-join the minute after the draw is done, but we like giving discounts, special deals and free stuff to our members, so we hope you’ll stick around!

Congratulations to Aoife Porter, winner of our March contest! Prizes on the way to you Aoife.

Sticking with our Spanish theme for the month of February, and continuing our love of matching great wine with great food, we’ve got some our most lovely Spanish wine and the Bible of Spanish Cooking to give away in this month’s competition.

From Phaidon Press comes Simone Ortega’s 1080 Recipes, the definitive book on traditional and authentic Spanish home cooking, and a bestseller in Spain since its publication almost forty years ago. Add in two bottles of our splendid Valliciergo Rioja, a red and a white, and you’re all set for the perfect Spanish night in.

How to Enter: All you have to do to enter the contest is join (or already be a member of) our monthly newsletter. We’ll draw a winner at random in March when our next newsletter goes out. You are of course completely welcome to un-join the minute after the draw is done, but we like giving discounts, special deals and free stuff to our members, so we hope you’ll stick around!