Contributed by Marshall Goldman of Pocket Wine Assistant

I love finding wine brands that are loaded with quality in every wine from top to bottom. I have been a fan of Sparky and Sarah Marquis since the Marquis-Phillips brand hit the scenes in the US in the mid-90s. During the first few years, with Robert Parker's lavish reviews and the low prices, you could barely buy a bottle of their wines in Atlanta due to the low allocations in the wine stores here. There was a genuine Marquis-rush.

Since the Marquis' launched their Mollydooker brand, I have been just as much appreciative of their wines. Monday evening I had the good fortune to attend the "Blend A Hand" event in downtown Atlanta. Blend A Hand is Mollydooker's U.S. wine dinner tour. The highlight of the tour is a blending trial that enables plain old Jane's like us to experience making their own blends based on Mollydookers Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz wines. Respectively, that is The Scooter, The Maitre D' and The Boxer wines. These wines are the basis for the "Two Left Feet" - one of my favorite wines of the decade. In the previous wine brand, this wine was known as Sarah's Blend. The Two Left Feet (TLF from here forward) is a blend of 68% Shiraz, 18% Merlot, and 14% Cabernet. The blending experiment enabled each group of two to create their own blend to their liking. My blend was a 36% Merlot, 20% Cabernet and 44% Shiraz. This blend enabled the up-front fruit character of the Mollydooker Merlot to shine through with a very forward mid-palate. The blend didn't win!

Now about the wines. We sampled an ounce of each of the Mollydooker's wines - but it was nice to know that with dinner, plenty of additional wine was avaialble - unlike some other dinners and tastings that I have attended that had very limited wine.

First - The Scooter: Mollydooker's entry level Merlot has deep berry flavors with a hint of cocoa. Very smooth on the palate and very deep bodied, even Miles, the character from Sideways would approve of this Merlot.

The Maitre D: Mollydooker's entry Cabernet also is deep textured with forward scents and tastes of berries. Very well structured, a bit of tannin is apparent on the tounge indicating that this wine will drink well for another two years+.

The Boxer: Mollydooker's entry Shiraz is no entry level wine. Deep colored with a pop of berry surrounded by black pepper and spice with a bit of liquorice. A solid Shiraz at any price. I actually had a half bottle left over and this wine was perfect three days after it was opened.

The Two Left Feet: As previously mentioned, this wine is a blend of the previous three wines. Rich, aromatic and concentrated; full of blackberry flavors with a backbone of spice and pepper.

Finally, not to be left out, Mollydooker served their "Violinist" as a starter. This wine is 100% Verdelho (which is the same as the Portuguese grape Verdello). Rich with melon, tropical fruits and citrus, this wine is beautiful with appetizers.

With dinner, we were served a taste of Carnival of Love, Blue Eyed Boy, Gigglepop, Enchanted Path, and The Velvet Glove. Each of these wines is a serious entry into the Mollydooker lineup. What strikes me the most about all of Mollydooker's wines are the forwardness of the aromas, the rich and velvety mouthfeel of all of these wines and the extraction of the juice. Especially the high end Shirazes are remarkably reminiscent of the great Shirvington Shiraz. When I asked Sparky about the similarity of flavor profile, depth and extraction, he informed me that he had created the Shirvington brand - thus the similarity.

I normally do not recommend wines - I prefer to share my observations and allow readers to make their own conclusions. However, I do recommend any of Mollydooker's wines. They are fabulous wines and well worth the effort to locate, buy, and drink. Try any of these wines with Bar-B-Que, grilled steak or roasted lamb.

Enjoy!
 

Note: Our friends at VinVillageRadio chatted with Sparky Marquis back on Dec. 11th 2009. Click HERE to listen to the interview.
 

Marshall Goldman is an independent wine & food blogger, partner in the highly acclaimed "Wine Market Assistant" and the recently released "Pocket Wine Assistant", and is also a blog contributor on VinVillage.com.