Blending Wines With The Southpaws
By Carrie Becker in Food on Aug 18, 2010 4:00PM
Mollydooker is Australian for "left-hander." However, among oenophiles, the word is more commonly associated with the Australian winery with a fantastic love for all things left-handed and more 99 point Robert Parker-rated wines than any other from the land Down Under. Their wines have sort of a cult following in the US that has materialized to more than 93% of their wine being sold and consumed here. With their wines hovering around the 16-17% alcohol mark, this could say something about the general US wine drinking market.
Greeted with a hearty left handed shake, winemaker/owner Sparky Marquis and his Aussie clan showed us a good time when they brought their wine religion to the patio of Lush Wine & Spirits' University Village store for a hands-on wine blending seminar, dinner and show.
“Are you a Mollydooker?” Sparky bellowed to kick-off the event as he proceeded to show us how to open any one of their uniquely named wines that are protected with nitrogen in lieu of more sulfites. The "Mollydooker Shake," a routine to prepare their wine, helps aerate the wine and makes it creamier in texture. We found the wines well-rounded in flavor with a great amount of alcohol, but a fatiguing to the palate after several tastes.
The event was one of the more choreographed and theatrical wine events we have attended in a while but we still learned a lot about blending wine competing against our dinner mates in blending the best of the table (Ed. Note: I won - CS). If you are looking to get saucy, check out the 2009 varietals that hit shelves last Friday, which was also National Lefthander Day.