Langton’s Selections Mollydooker Velvet Love Shiraz, Mollydooker Carnival of Love Shiraz ‘Mollydooker’ means left handed in Australian lingo. The winery, located on Coppermine Road in McLaren Vale, was set up by the highly energetic, successful (and both left-handed!) husband and wife winemaking team Sara and Sparky Marquis who have had a hand in various ventures including Fox Creek, Parson’s Flat, Shirvington and Marquis-Phillips. The Mollydooker is already achieving huge interest in the American market. The marketing is brilliantly conceived. The wines are tiered at various price points. The Velvet Glove Shiraz is the most expensive wine and is in a league of its own. Then there is the Lefty, Party and Love series all priced to meet the demands in specific market niches. The Mollydooker Shake (which is just an old fashioned method of aerating wine in the glass), the Marquis Fruit Weight and Vineyard Watering Programme (curiously spelt in Australian English) are all catch phrases to capture the imagination and attention of the market. The philosophy is to make wines that make you say “WOW!” The wines are all highly pointed by Robert Parker Jr.’s protégé and stand-in Australian wine reviewer Jay Miller. The Carnival of Love Shiraz (already on the secondary wine market), Velvet Glove Shiraz, Enchanted Path Shiraz Cabernet, Gigglepot Cabernet Sauvignon and Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz – which have all cracked above 95 points – all sound like names from a Walt Disney cartoon. However the American market is lapping it all up. So what’s wrong about making wine fun? Some wines are appearing on the Australian secondary wine market already and are going “gangbusters”. Mollydooker is a long way from finding its real place in the serious Australian ultra-fine wine market. However, the whole concept of Mollydooker is genius of some kind. Andrew Caillard