Here we have what I would call, extending the metaphor from the last post, a Cyclops of a wine. Brute, stupid, singular, one dimensional and easily fooled. Mollydooker is a sensation in the US wine market, largely created by massive ratings by Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator. I do not feel as much vitriol against these reviewers as others, but I have found that I very much disagree with Parker's ratings in Australian wine. The wine advocate gave this bottle 94 points.
While equivalent in power to the Gigondas below, this is essentially the opposite wine. Big chocolate, cassisn, vanilla and a touch of Eucalyptus belie the creamy, artificial, cough syrup texture of this highly manipulated wine. Very fruit forward, and somewhat alcoholic (at 16% abv), this is too sweet and over the top. It is, in a sense, the coca-cola of wine. I think if you like this approach to wine making, this is archetypical of the very sweet approach to wine making and a lot of people will certainly enjoy this. For me, however, this type of wine is exactly why I got out of Australian wines years ago (only to return later to discover all the other wonderful offerings from that region of the globe). I hate to say it, but: yellow-tail on crack. This is like returning to the orphanage you ran away from all those years ago, only to find that sister Molly is still beating you over the head with a stick - wine for the masochist.
Good+
$35 at BCLDB
5 comments:
Sounds just like many of the Grateful Palate/Marquis Phillips wines I tried recently - archetypal 'yellow-tail on crack' wines.
Its sad that Australia is more renowned for this sort of wine, when the vast proportion of what we produce (and drink) tastes nothing like this.
Shea,
I have to agree with your assessment. I tried the 05 out of curiosity and found it quite amazing (and overdone) in terms of ripeness and power.
I was, frankly, shocked at the syrupy fruit. This is actually beyond what I would call a 'fruit bomb'. I'm not even sure it's wine.
Like you, I am less hateful of the reviewers, but I have learned to deduct 3-5 points from RP's Aussie and Spanish scores, and perhaps add a few in Bordeaux (and my beloved Command...).
True, I've noticed a number of RP Bordeaux scores at 86-90 that I would score much higher.
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