The fourth vintage of this wine for me and served on Valentine’s Day, how appropriate!  I really enjoyed the previous three and was slightly hesitant about opening such a young wine but in the interest of keeping the momentum going on my vertical tasting I delved right in.

I ran the first glass through my Vinturi to give it some much needed air and then I performed the ‘shake’ on the bottle to open it up some.  The telltale inky purple color was ever present and the nose was quite alive after I shook the bottle.  I got a brambly nose of blackberry and cassis with some plums.  On the palate it became much more interesting with dark chocolate, oak, blackberry and more cassis.  I did not get the same blueberry core as the 2011 vintage, this one being more brooding with the black fruits in prominence.  I did get a good dose of the really tidy tannins which were ever present yet unobtrusive.  A fine grained dryness on my gums and teeth rather than a full blown case of tannins was quite tasty.  My son told me he could smell the wine when I poured another glass, he was sitting more than 2 feet away from me.  I asked him to describe what he could smell-  “Dark red grape”.  Pretty much sums it up from an 11 year old’s point of view.  This wine is delicious, with complex fruit structures and fine tannins.  I did get a whiff of the 16% alcohol initially, but it soon subsided.  The last glass contained a bit of sludge which surprised me a bit, so you may want to decant or at least keep an eye out when nearing the bottom.  I don’t know what the pro’s gave it but I am going with 94 points and for $75 this is a 4 star wine in my books.

Recapping my last four nights of Love….  The 2009 was amazing, getting 94 points and 4 stars from me for it’s concentration, balance and complexity.  The 2010 could best be described with a picture of a bowl full of black and blue berries.  The wine was open, opulent and refreshing with its lively acidity.  I gave it 92 points and 3 stars.  The 2011 was the most aromatic and complex so far and had an incredible concentration of blueberry that had me reeling.  It got 93 points and 4 stars from me. The 2012 is the baby of the group but I reckon it may be the best one yet, giving the ’09 a run for the money.  I believe it will evolve and gain complexity like the others have, and the tannic structure will hold it in good stead.  It too got 94 points and 4 stars.

The one main factor that I have noticed with all of the Mollydooker wines that I have tasted thus far is their level of concentration and their relative ease of drinking at such young bottle age.  The wines all share some of the telltale signs of the house style and I really like it.  Very rich, focused and balanced.  The more reasonably priced wines are delicious for everyday drinking while the upper echelon have proven to me that they can hold their own on any festive occasion against a variety of foods.  Most of them are relatively high in alcohol but this has been very cleverly disguised by the excellent wine making.  You cannot get such concentration and complexity without pushing the boundaries but they have done so in a great fashion.  I will continue to drink my way through the current vintages of Mollydooker and look forward to what the 2013 vintage brings.  Salut….

The Sludge

This is the third installment in my 4 year vertical of Mollydooker’s Carnival Of Love.  Check back later for the finale, it’s gonna be the 2012..  I hate to sound like I’m repeating myself, but the wines are very close in profile year after year and yet they offer annual nuances that I find intriguing.  The 2011 had the same telltale inky purple appearance and the nose had the same basic components yet I also got cherry and violets on this one.  I grew up in Kenya where my mother started collecting African Violets, she does so to this day.  They have a unique fragrance that is unmistakable to me.  This wine had traces of purple.

On the initial attack I was amazed by the piercing blueberry core.  It was like I was slurping pure blueberry essence, but not the sweet kind- just magnified and intense.  Later on came the nuances of cola, nutmeg and some plum action.  This wine is super smooth and very silky with traceable tannins lurking in the background.  I did not notice as much acidity as the 2010 but the wine was totally in balance.  It’s funny how this vintage scored slightly lower with the pro’s yet I find it more appealing over the previous year!  I believe 93 was awarded by RP and I agree this time.  I paid $72 for it on my worldly travels and give it 4 stars.  I served this wine up with some Scampi Shrimp and Garlic Broccoli, a pairing I kind of regret.  It needs a nice leg of Lamb or perhaps a juicy steak.  I am starting to see a trend here that I will bring up on the final installment of this mini-vertical.  For now have a great Valentine’s Day. Salut….

A picture is worth a thousand words….

This is the second vintage in my vertical tasting. The 2009 Carnival of Love was excellent, and this one continues the streak, albeit in a slightly different way.  Inky in the glass I got a big dose of blue currants and black tea on the nose after I ran it through the Vinturi.  The initial attack was quite simply deelish.  I had to take this picture so you could imagine what I was tasting.  Midway through I started getting sour cherries and blackberry.  I wrote down on my tasting sheet that I noticed quite a bit of acidity, hence the sour cherry component.  On the back end is where the plum compote, spice box and blueberries really came to life. The tannins are slight to the taste, but ever present.

The main difference between these two vintages is the level of concentration.  The ’09 was very focused, this version is somewhat more open ended with more levels of flavors yet not as complex.  The ’09 weighed in at 16%, this one a more palatable 15.5%.  Both are drinking beautifully now and will continue to do so for many years, yet my preference is the ’09.  This wine  scored slightly higher with the pro’s at an average of 94.5.  I am going with 92 and three stars for this $90 beauty.  I served it with spicy pulled pork, it worked a treat.  Salut….

Let me preface with a Happy New Year!  This is the wine that started our evening off.  Being a celebration, we went large with some gems including this Shiraz from Australia.  Nearly black in the glass, I had a feeling we were in for a treat.  The nose was somewhat subdued in the first glass, the second one having been given a good ‘Mollydooker Shake‘.  This unique aeration method allows the aromas to explode and the fruit to unfurl.  The nose was plummy and had a bit of pepper and a touch of alcohol.  On the palate, creamy blueberry pie and black cherry.  This wine is big and full on, with additional notes of mocha and a floral touch on the back end.  Very smooth tannins and a juicy acidity were slightly overshadowed by the whopping 16% alcohol.  A very enjoyable wine, with good cellaring potential.  WS gave it 92, RP gave it 91 and I am going with 90.  $40 lets you in on this unique Shiraz and I am going with 4 stars.  Salut….