Mollydooker: Aussie for Left-handed

I have a friend who likes Mollydooker wines, and is also a big fan of Sparky, the owner of the winery. We have, many times, talked about the wines. He loves them. Me, not so much. So when Steve insisted that we come to a dinner at The Raleigh hotel on Thursday night, I grudgingly obliged. After all, I figured it would at least be fun to hang out with some friends. Florida Keys Guy went to Tallahassee for work just to avoid having to drink these wines.

I went to the event open minded. I really wanted to like the wines. After all, loads of other people like them, they can’t all be bad. I’ll start by saying that Sparky and Sarah Marquis, the owners, are some of the best marketing people around. Lots of other businesses should take some notes. They design the labels to be large and stand out on a retail shelf. They give their wines goofy names that make people want to hear the story behind them. They created a tear off label so people can order a bottle in a restaurant, then keep part of the label so they know what they had, and can subsequently go buy it at retail.

But here is my big issue: The wines are just not that good, and they are absurdly overpriced. We tasted The Scooter (Merlot), The MaitreD’ (Cabernet Sauvignon) and The Boxer (Shiraz). Then we created our own blends, which is basically what the Two Left Feet blend is – Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz. I didn’t like their overextracted, over-oaked blend any more than each component. That part was incredibly fun. Then we tasted through the “higher end” wines: The Gigglepot (Cabernet Sauvignon), was pretty good, but certainly not a $50 wine. Next up, The Blue Eyed Boy (Shiraz), Enchanted Path (Shiraz/Cabernet) – people love this wine. For me, for $90 per bottle, I want something I can drink. The Enchanted Path was just harsh and overdone. Then came Carnival of Love. It tastes like pancake syrup – sweet and thick, and quite frankly, nothing I want to drink. A friend of our brought this to a wine dinner a couple of years ago. I have barely forgiven him. Finally was the Velvet Glove (Shiraz). Not only is the label velvet, but it comes in a velvet bag. That part is cool. The wine is okay – it is certainly drinkable, and pretty good. But here is the kicker: it is $185 per bottle. No thank you.

Overall, the event was really fun. I had a great time blending the wines, doing the Mollydooker shake (see the video) and hanging out with good people. As for the wine, I will pass.