Please Prepare for Take-Off

After nearly 5 months of driving on the other side of the road, I packed my bag in preparation for a 3 week return trip to the island of North America for a tour of the USA with our 2010 Mollydooker wines. It took some careful deliberation and multiple configurations, but at the end of it, I managed to fit all that I would need for my 3 week adventure into a single carry-on bag. Standing over the bag it became clear to me that this trip was going to be anything but ordinary. As a team, we partied with close to 3,000 friends through 19 different cities with many plane ticket stubs and empty bottles of 2010 Mollydooker wines to show for it. Looking back at all the heartfelt receptions and fun filled experiences that we had, it is safe to say that the trip was an unbelievable success. Rather than talk you through the events as they unfolded, I have chosen to allow the pictures to speak for themselves.

3 Weeks in a Carry-On! A Base of Boxers.

3 Jack Daniels and we are on our way.

Fresh off the Plane and into a Tasting With Kimpton Hotel Wine Director in San Francisco.

Blend A Hand Event Table Set and Ready to Receive Wine.

Sparky Using his Mollydooker (Left) Hand to Prepare the Wine for the Night.

Friends Doing The Mollydooker Shake!

Time to Pour the Velvet Glove. This Guy had the Right Idea.

The Event Was a Success! Off to the After Party.

Drove to Benbo Inn in Garberville, CA. It was Hot. Janet Didn't Seem to Mind.

Early Morning Flight to Portland. Gate Turned into Mobile Office.

Missed Connecting Flight to Portland.

Found a Flight to Take us to Portland. Pilot Loves Mollydooker and Asked Sparky for Picture on Tarmac.

Why We Say NOT to Wear White to Our Events!

Creatively Cautious.

Bottle Signing in Seattle. Make Sure to Drink the Wine!

You Never Know Where The Mollydooker Tear Out Tabs Will End Up.

Hanging Out on the Lake, Huck Finn Stlye.

Morton's in Colorado. What's for Dinner?

Whitefish, Montana. Population 5,000. Amazing Town!

5am @ Airport. Krissy Doing Her Thing.

Shortly After Taking Off...

Iowa Culinary Institute. Which Fork Goes With What?

Janet with Chef Anderson and Chefs-To-Be.

Chicago. A Record Setting 150 Person Event.

By the Looks of it, I Think the Night Went Really Really Well.

Texas Wine Tour. This Sign Does Not Apply in Australia.

We Converted Him!

El Porron - A Traditional Spanish Wine Pitcher.

Conquering El Porron.

Charity Auction in North Carolina. A Pairing of Pearls & Velvet Glove.

Afternoon in Pennsylvania at the Allen's House. Reunited with Friends and the 2005 Carnival of Love. It was INCREDIBLE.

Jeremy's Cellar. The Picture with Parker that Helped Start it All.

Trade Tasting at Capital Grill. Sommelier Showing that Nobody Spilled!

Final Event of 2011 Trip #1 Complete.

San Fran to Sydney. Forgot Books. Just Made Flight. Sweating. Guess Which Book was for my Wife?

The Last Sip

This edition of Following the Flavour is dedicated to all the friends of Mollydooker who helped make our first USA trip of 2011 such a fun and memorable time. Looking forward to catching up with a whole bunch of new friends as we get ready to embark on our second USA trip in less than two weeks time!

Well that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed.

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want me to explore. Each edition of Following the Flavour will feature a segment on a fan requested topic.

If you want future publications of Following the Flavour to arrive automatically in your in-box, just enter your email address along the top right hand side of the page and click on Bring on the flavour!

Until next time!

A Flying Farewell.

Cracking Open a Misfortune

Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It was a calm Friday afternoon and the Mollydooker team was on the verge of gathering to share a glass of wine. Then the phone rang. A container filled with more than one million dollars of the $185/bottle 2010 Mollydooker Velvet Glove had been dropped. They had never seen anything like it. As the flagship wine in the Mollydooker family it was not the call we were expecting. I thought to myself that maybe it was a case of too much fruit-weight? We quickly got in the car and headed down to have a look for ourselves. The sight of broken bottles and wine spilling out nearly brought me to the floor – mostly because I would be lying if I said that the thought of going down for a sip didn’t occur to me! Overall, the area really did look like a murder scene but the smell in the air was incredible. After having witnessed some of the hard work and commitment to excellence that goes into making such a quality wine it was a tough vision to digest and a most unfortunate accident. Thankfully we still had 2/3 of the 2010 Velvet Glove safely stored away and as I said in my initial post, it is the best wine that I have ever had.

Seeing Red

Lights, Likes and Media Bites 

It didn’t take long for the local media to get word of the accident. The phone immediately started ringing off the hook. Around the clock we received interest for interviews from local, national and international news and wine agencies that were all thirsty for the story. From CNN to BBC to ABC to Facebook to Twitter to thousands of other media outlets, the drop of $1Million worth of Mollydooker’s 2010 Velvet Glove was broadcasted globally at speeds that Sparky has yet to reach in his go-kart! Almost as quickly as the news blazed around the world did a flood of supportive emails, calls and postings from friends of Mollydooker pour in. It has been a humbling experience to say the least.   

Up Close and Personal

Label our Lefty

Shifting back into fun mode, the lights of the camera reflected off all the smiling faces of the Mollydooker movie stars who you may have seen in the Label our Lefty contest video. We all got together and shared some wine to help settle the camera nerves (pretty good excuse I thought!) and to make our acting debuts playing the part of Mollydooker team members struggling to come up with a name for our brand new sparkling shiraz. The contest, which invites people from around the world to submit name ideas for the new wine, has a prize of a round trip ticket for 2 to Australia to be the guests of Mollydooker in McLaren Vale. Looking back, some of us may have been more convincing in the short film than others. I’ll leave that for you to review and decide by visiting the contest site at www.labelourlefty.com.    

Acting 101 With a Little Liquid Confidence

A Finish Line Fire Up

In the previous edition of Following the Flavour you were introduced to The Commendation Meeting. Between the daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, seasonally, annually and spontaneously scheduled meetings there is no shortage of opportunity at Mollydooker for the team to come together. While every meeting has a different theme, the offering of wine and food are regularly provided, which makes meeting time that much more delicious. The Vision Meeting, which runs directly before The Commendation Meeting, is an opportunity for the team to hear Sparky talk about some motivational food for thought and tips for success.  At the last Vision Meeting we were lucky enough to have Luke (Sarah and Sparky’s son The Blue Eyed Boy) talk about what success has meant for him on the back of his recent go-karting state championship title. The discussion was all about goal setting and the process of taking action towards goal achievement. Luke spoke about 1)Deciding what you want 2)Deciding what price you are prepared to pay 3)Paying the price. The speech ended with a round of applause and a toast to his victory with of course, more wine and food! 

Luke Leading

Did You Know That…

Pruning on Mollydooker vineyards is carried out by machine and by hand. Pruning, which can be understood as a haircut for the vine, is an essential component to vineyard management as it sets the vine up for future production and harvests. The first pass is done by machine pruner as seen in the picture below. The machine sweeps over the long and extended vineyard canes (seen on the left-hand side) and cuts them down to size (seen on the right-hand side). This process saves the hand pruners heaps of time and energy. Following the machine pruning comes the really hard and strenuous work. Teams of hand pruners tend to each vine during sometimes cold and rainy days, snipping the vine’s canes down to the right level. The right level means cutting the cane down further to control the number of buds that remain on the vine so that the vine can focus its energy on producing the right amount of high quality fruit.

Pruning in Action

Australia as a country is home to some of the oldest known vines in existence. This fact is true for 2 very different varieties of vines. In South Australia, grapevines which predate a period around the 1850’s, are amongst some of the world’s oldest. This claim was made possible by avoiding the Phylloxera outbreak (insect that feasts on and destroys a vine’s root system) that devastated the vineyards in France back around 1863 and required the vineyards to be pulled and replanted. In the North Eastern part of Australia you will find a much older and more acrobatic vine that calls the world’s oldest known rainforest (estimated to be around 135 million years old) home.

Jurassic Park Vines

Aussisms – How to Talk Like a Mollydooker

Chuffed = Quietly pleased.  

She’ll be Apples = Everything will be alright.

Easy = Don’t mention it, you’re welcome.  

Flash = Adjective used to describe something fancy.

Sauce = Sauce but also includes Ketchup when asking for sauce on chips (fries). 

The Last Sip

This edition of Following the Flavour is dedicated to all the friends of Mollydooker who sent in their best wishes and support after hearing about the Velvet Glove drop. Your words of encouragement have been shared with the entire Mollydooker team and have inspired us to remain focused and committed to producing the best Mollydooker wine possible for years to come.

Well that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed.

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want me to explore. Each edition of Following the Flavour will feature a segment on a fan requested topic.

If you want future publications of Following the Flavour to arrive automatically in your in-box, just enter your email address along the top right hand side of the page and click on Bring on the flavour!

Until next time!

A Fractured Farewell

The Mollydooker Maze of Amazement

With unbelievable views at every corner and the aroma of fermenting wine spread throughout the winery, it doesn’t take much to get lost in all the Mollydooker magic. As you enter the property you are knocked back by the sight of “The Boxer” featured prominently on the large Mollydoker vineyard sign (usually the first stop for a visitor photo-opp!). With a souvenir picture in hand, it takes all but a Mollydooker turn (left-handed) to find yourself on the short road lined with olive trees that leads up to the main Mollydooker grounds. Once you reach the top the fun really begins! Should you go left to eat, drink and meet the admin side? Should you go right to the barrels, bottles and winemaking? Up and over to the vineyards, tanks and fermenters? Down to the dam and more vineyards? For best results, arrange for a guided visit and get to go all-around! No matter which direction you head towards first, the one constant that you are sure to find is smiling faces. Click on the slideshow below to take a look around!

Tea & Ta

In the inaugural edition of Following the Flavour I touched on the importance at Mollydooker of making wines that make people go WOW through attention to detail and commitment to excellence. That mission, which is as much a philosophy as it is a practice, includes acknowledging those who have dedicated themselves to the details. Once a month (when not in vintage), the entire team gets together on a Tuesday at 2:30pm for some food, some wine and some words of appreciation. It is called The Commendation Meeting and every Mollydooker team member can nominate as many acts of above and beyond, attention to detail or purely great work that they have seen someone carry out over the course of the month. The praise for that Mollydooker team member is then read out loud in front of the team. While some people might get a bit shy in hearing their name called out along with the reason why, the overall experience reinforces just how meaningful and powerful the effect of a simple thank you can be. To top it all off, as a token of their appreciation for everyone’s contribution to Mollydooker, Sarah and Sparky give out bottles of wine to each team member! Talk about sharing the love!  

A Round of Applause For...

TGIF

Adding to the Australian complexity of communication is the fact that they love to create and use acronyms for everything! While in a conversation with an Aussie at Mollydooker it is not unlikely that you hear reference to several acronyms (often more than 3 letters long!). TGIF, an international acronym for “Thank God It’s Friday”, happily signifies the end of the work week and the start of the weekend. At Mollydooker TGIF takes on an entirely different meaning. A Friday at Mollydooker starts off right with a delicious assortment of muffins. Of course I am not referring to the North American blueberry, chocolate or carrot muffin variety. Muffins at Mollydooker mean either a freshly grilled mouth-watering burger topped with cheese and a fried egg or an English muffin with tomatoes, lettuce, jalapenos, cheese and fried egg. At around 10am the entire team makes their way up to the big kitchen for this highly anticipated weekly gathering to catch-up and share a delicious snack (morning tea) together.

MMMMMMMMMMMuffins!!!

Did You Know That…

Interested in learning a little bit more about flavour? To hear Pete and Matt (Mollydooker winemakers) talk about it, have a look at this great video.

There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There is however, something way more valuable…

Our Secret Ingredient

Aussisms – How to Talk Like a Mollydooker

Ridgee Didge = It’s the real deal! or Seriously?

Hooly Dooly = Unbelievable.

Tea = Snack between breakfast+lunch or lunch+dinner. Also means dinner or the hot drink known as tea!

Gone Boonter = Depending on use, a positive or negative term used to describe “going nuts”.  

Beyond the Woop Woop = Out in the middle of nowhere.

No worries = You’re welcome.   

The Last Sip

This edition of Following the Flavour is dedicated to the double J’s of Jarred and Jon. Your curious questions about the vineyard inspired this posting. Please keep them coming!

Well that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed.

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want me to explore. Each edition of Following the Flavour will feature a segment on a topic request or question that we receive as a comment .

If you want future publications of Following the Flavour to arrive automatically in your in-box, just enter your email address along the top right hand side of the page and click on “Bring on the flavour”!

Until next time!

A Flashy Farewell!

Landings

Twenty three hours in the air, we made our descent over the beautiful Gulf St.Vincent into the Adelaide Airport. From above you get a sense of what Adelaide is all about with its mix of beaches, hills, high-rises and suburbs all within close proximity to wine country! Velvety smooth landing, quick stretch and off we went. Seven bags checked, seven bags recovered and intact. Wish we could have said the same for Sarah Marquis (Mollydooker CEO/Winemaker). Fresh off a rollerblading fall and showing visible signs of discomfort, Sarah met us at the airport and saw to it that we got settled in her home. Later she found out that her wrist was broken and would require surgery the next day. Still, Sarah refused to miss the welcome dinner being held in our honour. Sarah’s dictionary – where hospitality comes before hospital.

A Helping Hand

A Symphony of Senses  

There is nothing quite like working on a vineyard. After several years surrounded by the sound of honking horns and picturesque views of street signs and cement parking lots, having to now deal with a soundtrack of chirping birds and the sight of sun tanning vineyards and rolling green hills took some getting used to…If you happen to be more of a nose-it-all then this is the place to be! Rain or shine the aromas work as a natural relaxant (as if we needed any more help). Following a light rainfall, the scent of watermelon and honeydew are revealed. When they weed between the vines the property smells just like a fresh salad bar, mostly because the weeds being removed are wild rocket. A quick walk over to the winery and you are blown away by the awesome wave of fresh cotton candied air. On every other day, it just smells like happiness.

THE View

Spreading the Love

We all know that feeling. When you find something that you really love and can’t wait to tell others about. It could be anything. A restaurant, a movie or even a bottle of wine. Something usually prefaced to others with “you GOT to try”. How gratifying the feeling when the recommendation lives up to the hype. As the self-proclaimed greatest fan in the world of Mollydooker wines, being able to say “you Got to try” Mollydooker to someone and then seeing their flavour filled faces light up after their first sip has always been a source of joy for me. Unfortunately, with only so many bottles produced, getting some Mollydooker can be a challenge and at times calls for creativity (more on that in future posts!). With thirsty fans around the world eagerly anticipating the release of the 2010’s, deciding on who gets what and how much of it is no easy task. Having now been a part of the allocation process I can vouch for the fact that the Mollydooker team’s top priority is to ensure that the WOW factor is spread as evenly as possible across the globe.  If you should have any trouble getting some, just let me know. I think I may now be able to pull some strings!

Mollydooker Meetings - With Wine of Course!

Double Dose of Details

Our arrival marked the end of the 2011 vintage vineyard carnival. The grapes had all been harvested, the juice was safely in tank or in oak, and the vines were starting to change colour. At Mollydooker, an end of vintage means that bottling, winemaking and cellar management is now in full bloom. I was fortunate enough to be on hand at the bottling plant as the last of the 2010’s were being bottled. Hair net and eye protection secured, we watched the 2010 Velvet Gloves come to life. While my wife and I stood in awe of the bottling ballet, others including Sparky’s Mum stood guard to ensure 100% quality control. If you ever wondered how Mollydooker is able to achieve such consistently high quality results from year to year, it has everything to do with paying attention to the details. While many local vineyards use this bottling facility, Mollydooker is the only company to send their own staff to supervise the entire bottling process and the handling of the wine transfer. With the extra eyes and hands in place, they are further equipped to spot and discard any bottle that falls over or has its screw cap nicked or tapped while on the line. Even if the bottle appears to still be intact they dispose of it. That was tough to watch. To ease the pain of watching Velvet Glove go down the drain we pulled two bottles right off the line and let me tell you that the details are delicious. 2010 Velvet Glove, THE BEST WINE I HAVE EVER HAD.

The Bottling Ballet

Did You Know That…

90% of a Mollydooker wine’s fruit weight (quality of fruit/flavour) stems from what happens in the vineyard and 10% is determined by the work of Mollydooker’s winemakers in the winery. Early on in the malolactic fermentation process the malic acid (similar to the harsh acid in a green apple) conceals the full potential of the fruit weight. As the winemakers tend to the wine, they manage to reduce the malic acid levels to 0. The result is a conversion from malic acid to lactic acid (similar to the soft and smooth acid in milk) with the wine’s full fruit weight shining through.

Winemakers at Work

In addition to his award winning thesis on Vineyard Canopy Management, which led to the creation of the Marquis Watering Programme™, Sparky (Sarah’s Husband/CEO/Winemaker) was a highly acclaimed photographer. He specialized in capturing motion and was the first to use the world famous scenic stretch of Australian winding roads (located just outside of Melbourne) for car commercials.

Driving Along The Great Ocean Road

Aussisms – Talking The Talk

How you going? = How are you?

Have a go = Give it a try

Ta = Thanks

Good on you = Nicely done

Gorgeous = Adjective used to describe a person who is kind, caring and helpful.

The Last Sip

This inaugural edition of Following the Flavour is dedicated to my father-in-law Jerry, who not only got me into wine by introducing me to Mollydooker and the 2005 Carnival of Love, but also paid for it! I owe you one. Actually, I probably owe you a lot more than one!

Well that’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed.

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want me to explore. Each edition of Following the Flavour will feature a segment on a fan requested topic.

Until next time!

Sean Adelsohn

A Flavourful Farewell!