One of the storied wineries out of South Australia founded by Sarah and Sparky Marquis, Mollydooker continues to impress with their releases. The term ‘Mollydooker’ is Aussie slang for being left-handed. I’ve met the super nice owners, Sparky and Marquis, at various wine events. The Mollydooker Shiraz wines are plush, layered and hit you over the head with gobs of fruit while maintaining a nice minerality. Australian wines had a huge push a few years back but less and less are currently imported to the US due to high shipping costs. This has made it more difficult to find world class Shiraz.
Mollydooker has many tiers to their wine and their top tier of Shiraz, ‘The Velvet Glove’, is a true collector’s item. A more affordable option by Mollydooker is their ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ Shiraz which is a world class concentrated and inky Shiraz that has remarkable consistency, despite major vintage variation. I have tried the 2007-2014 vintages of this wine and have found them to be more in the range of 93-94 points, depending on the vintage. This gives you a really exceptional quality to price ratio. The 2014 ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ Shiraz (WWB, 94), was an inky and hedonistic effort that won’t break the bank. Some of these wines come with a steeper price tag and are meant for a special occasion. Look for the 2013 Mollydooker ‘Carnival of Love’ Shiraz (WWB, 95) which is an intense wine that has dark fruit flavors and gorgeous balance. Probably the best wine from Australia that I have reviewed in the past year, the 2014 Mollydooker ‘The Velvet Glove’ Shiraz (WWB, 97) is close to perfection in a bottle, showing intense and brooding dark and blue fruits with opulent weight on the mid-palate. Some of these wines can be found at Total Wines, while distribution of these wines tends to be somewhat challenged due to the long shipping from Australia. You may also be able to more easily find these wines at online retailers such as wine.com and klwines.com. Here are the gorgeous new wines by Mollydooker.
2014 Mollydooker ‘Blue Eyed Boy’ Shiraz- Following up the gorgeous '13 'Blue Eyed Boy' this 2014 'Blue Eyed Boy' bottling weighs in at 15.5% alcohol and was sourced from the Joppich vineyard in Langhorne Creek and the Gateway and Kirwin vineyards in McLaren Vale. This rich Shiraz begins with aromas of blueberry compote, black raspberry, smoked meats, cedar and black cherry. This leads to dense flavors of blueberry pie, blackberry, mocha and roasted dates. This decadent wine is done in the viscous and opulent style, with mouthwatering fruit and lovely fruit weight that makes it impossible to resist. Drink 2016-2024- 94
2014 Mollydooker ‘The Velvet Glove’ Shiraz- The 2014 'The Velvet Glove' Shiraz is another majestic and Impossible to resist release from Mollydooker. This is an insanely delicious and decadent treat, which offers intense aromatics of blueberry compote, dried raisin, red cherries, thyme and roasted coffee all taking shape in the glass. On the palate there are concentrated flavors of blackberry pie, black cherries, dark chocolate, and coffee grounds resonating through the wine. Scintillating and rich, this has a lovely acidity and lavish mouthfeel. This continues to impress as it expands onto the finish with gorgeous layers of ripe fruit leaving a long lingering impression. Drink 2016-2030- 97
2013 Mollydooker 'Carnival of Love' Shiraz- The 2013 'Carnival of Love' follows the past two exceedingly delicious 'Carnival' bottlings. This inky colored wine weighs in at 16% alcohol and a massive 92% fruit weight. There are dense aromatics of black plum, boysenberry cordial, stewed strawberry, Turkish coffee and dark chocolate. There are intoxicating flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate, black cherry cough syrup, coffee grounds and black tea. The fruit weight on the mid-palate is massive. This is dense and chewy Shiraz that is impossible to resist. Be sure to give this a one hour decant if enjoying young. Given more of ten hours of aeration this wine becomes even more complex, showing an intoxicating cornucopia of fruit flavors that artfully capture the wonderful aging potential of this massive Shiraz. Drink 2016-2026- 95