Mollydooker Miss Molly Sparkling Shiraz (2021)

Everyone who knew Sarah & Sparky also rallied around to help. Staff offered to take a drop in salary, growers offered to take late payments and suppliers offered extended terms. Times were tough, but with their positive attitude, coupled with an amazing team around them, they knew they had the recipe for success.

After years of working in the industry for others, in March 2006, their tale of love, hard work and determination led them to start their own brand, Mollydooker. The term itself being Aussie slang for a “left hander’, was a befitting name for their company as they were both Mollydookers.

The plan was to create a range of wines that were housed by beautiful packaging and design, with dashes of colour and images that would tell a story.

In June 2006, Robert Parker reviewed their very first vintage for Mollydooker. He rated The Boxer as the ‘Best Value Red Wine in the World’, Two Left Feet as the second, and Maitre D’ as the fourth. Their Violinist was also chosen as the ‘Best Value White Wine in the World’. The wines sold out in nineteen days and all the debts were paid off.

In August 2006, when the Carnival of Love (WA:99) and Enchanted Path (WA:96) were released they sold out in five days, and Mollydooker was back to paying bills early and giving bonuses to staff and growers.

Since then Mollydooker has been a story of phenomenal and consistent success!

The following year, their Velvet Glove Shiraz became their fifth wine to be awarded 99 points by The Wine Advocate and the Carnival of Love has been listed in Wine Spectator’s ‘Top Ten wines in the World’ three times, including being #2, and has also been #1 in Australia two times!

It was time for Sarah & Sparky to get their own winery, so in 2007 they bought a beautiful property with stunning views. The winery and 114 acres of vineyards sit on the magical Seaview Ridge in McLaren Vale, home to some of the most iconic Australian McLaren Vale wines.

The team spent the first three years modernising and upgrading the winery and vineyards; pulling out unwanted grape varieties and replanting with Shiraz. They installed a watering system, implemented the Vineyard Watering Programme and moved the city office to the winery. Mollydooker now has 50 permanent staff who are the heartbeat of the company, with another 20 staff who come on board during vintage.

In the winery, the wines typically spend 7 days on skins before finishing fermentation in barrel, using new or one year old barrels. Used barrels are meticulously maintained and fetch the highest prices in the industry.

At Mollydooker, the incredibly talented team are passionate about their motto ‘We make wines that make people go WOW, through attention to detail and commitment to excellence!’ and never take shortcuts or compromise on quality.

They guarantee the quality of their wine by rating it on its Marquis Fruit Weight™ (the measure of how far back on your tongue the velvety sensation of fruit goes before you experience the sensation of structure). If parcels don’t qualify at the required Fruit Weight, they just don’t make those wines. For example, in the 2008 vintage they only bottled their Lefty wines and in 2015, they only bottled their Lefty and Family wines. This is a true testament to their commitment to quality and honouring their customers who spend their hard earned dollars on wine.

From humble beginnings with a desire to help others when they could, they have never forgotten how they were helped when they were in need. With this in mind, they developed the concept of ‘Sip it Forward’, where a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Mollydooker wines goes back to support the local community, and around the world for those in need.

Mollydooker currently support a number of charities including:

• Transform Cambodia where they fund three ‘Mollydooker Houses’ in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. These houses provide education for 300 children and food for their families.

• Mercy Multiplied in the US, which helps abused women and girls gain self-esteem and overcome addictions and depression.

• The Hutt Street Centre in Australia, which is a safe place of hope, warmth and belonging for the homeless and vulnerable people in the inner city of Adelaide.

Fast forward to 2017 and as is the case with any good story, as one chapter comes to an end another one begins. These days, Sarah and Sparky are pursuing their own ‘Enchanted Paths’, with Sarah taking the reins as sole owner and winemaker, now running the business with the support of the very talented and experienced Mollydooker team.

… and so a new, exciting chapter at Mollydooker begins!