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Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2018
RedAustralia2018
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2020-08-26 · Published 2026-09-30 · Updated 2026-09-30
At a glance
In one line
5.0/5 — higher than Vivino's 4.4 average · world avg price US$61 · An Australian winery founded by a left-handed couple, and a Shiraz named after their son.
Wine-Searcher aggregate of 5 critic reviews: 91. Vivino lists a critic score of 92 (added Jan 2020, publication not named). The producer describes it as like taking a bite of a blueberry muffin.
Market note: World average US$61 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026). The only 2018 retail listing is one US seller at US$33.67 (tax incl.), plus one auction lot at US$40. From the same house, Carnival of Love Shiraz is US$93 (92), Velvet Glove Shiraz US$232 (95), and the entry-level The Boxer Shiraz US$30 (89).
Father's note — Daniel Min
Original author of the notes“호주 쉬라즈에 눈을 뜨게 해준 와인. 어릴적 맛있는 군것질을 처음 먹었을 때 중독됐었던 그 특유의 향이 여기에 있다. 전에 이 향을 다른 와인에서는 희미하게 느꼈는데 블루아이드보이에서는 엄청 강하다.”
Show original
“blueberry blackberry plum acai berries licorice black fruit 호주 쉬라즈에 눈을 뜨게 해준 와인. 어릴적 맛있는 군것질을 첨 먹었을때 중독됬었던 그 특유의 향이 여기에 있다. 전에 이향을 다른 와인에서는 희미하게 느꼈는데~ 블루아이드보이에서는 엄청 강하다.”
I left the packet half full and set it beside the notebook.
Sunday. The bar's day off. Running an errand for Mum at the neighbourhood supermarket, I spotted a purple packet in the sweets rack by the till. The blueberry jellies Dad used to bring home now and then on his way back from work. I bought one and tore it open on the walk home.
The moment the packet opened, a sweet, deep purple smell rushed up. Blueberry, under it a vanilla-like sweetness, a touch of liquorice at the end. Before I could even put one in my mouth, a kitchen on a late-summer night opened first.
Twenty-one, a Wednesday night at the end of August. The monsoon had cleared and only the heat was left; the electric fan was turning. Dad stood a cloth-wrapped bottle on the table, twisted off the cap, poured a little out into a glass, and screwed the cap back on. Then he turned the bottle upside down and shook it hard. I had never seen anyone shake wine. When I burst out laughing, Dad only said this bottle is meant to be opened this way. The wine he poured next was dark red like ink. When I put my nose to it, a blueberry-muffin sweetness poured out. I said it smelled like the jellies we bought outside the stationery shop. Dad laughed for a long time, then said he could smell the first sweet he ever had as a boy. I don't know the name of the bottle.
At home I opened Dad's notebook. That date at the end of August. The wine that opened his eyes to Australian Shiraz, he wrote. The scent of the first delicious sweet he got hooked on as a child is here. A scent he had caught faintly in other wines was enormously strong in this one. Five stars. The bottle was Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz 2018. I stuck on the wine-name Post-it. It was a bottle Dad gave five stars. The other wine where he caught it faintly was probably the bottle from the first Saturday of July, the one we sipped in turns with grape juice.
I photographed the page and sent it to Master Seo. The reply came much later. You shook it? That was all. A little later, one more line. That house puts nitrogen in the bottle, he wrote; you shake it out, and then it opens.
At night I opened the new notebook to page thirty-three. With no glass today, I filled in the scent column first: 'blueberry jelly, electric fan, a bottle held upside down.' What I learned today: some bottles open only when you shake them. I left the packet half full and set it beside the notebook.
What this wine is
'Mollydooker' is Aussie slang for a left-hander. Sarah and Sparky Marquis, the couple who founded it, are both left-handed (Please the Palate, Wine Spectator). They met while studying winemaking in 1997, and Mollydooker's first red vintage came out in 2005. The first line-up was The Boxer, The Violinist and Two Left Feet — names a left-handed couple would pick.
'Blue Eyed Boy' comes from the couple's son, Luke. According to Wine Spectator, Luke himself modelled for the label. On the 2018 bottle Dad photographed, the label carries a black-and-white photo of a boy standing in a grape vat, with the line 'The Genuine Product of Sarah Marquis'.
What made the house famous is a habit of shaking the bottle. Mollydooker uses less sulphite and protects the wine with nitrogen instead. So it recommends pouring out about a glass, closing the cap, turning the bottle upside down and shaking it hard to release the nitrogen — the so-called 'Mollydooker Shake'. Afterwards, it says, the texture softens and the aromatics lift. The house even has its own yardstick, 'Marquis Fruit Weight': how far back from the tip of the tongue the velvety feel of fruit reaches. The 2018 fruit came from Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale (Wine-Searcher).
What the world says
The five critic reviews gathered on Wine-Searcher aggregate to 91. Vivino lists a critic score of 92 (added Jan 2020). The producer describes the wine as like taking a bite of a blueberry muffin.
On Vivino the 2018 averages 4.4 from 1,661 ratings: 409 fives, 1,109 fours, 129 threes, 13 twos and one 1 — heavily bunched at four. The label as a whole averages 4.3 from 17,428 ratings, and vintage averages from 2006 to 2022 barely move between 4.2 and 4.4. Suggested drinking window: 2023–2033.
Black fruit leads the flavour keywords with 1,611 mentions, and blueberry tops them at 472. On the oak side, vanilla 347 and chocolate 223. Structure shows intensity at 4.9, nearly maxed out, with acidity 3.0 and tannin 3.1.
"After shaking it, feels much fresher, deepening its tastes." — Vivino review, Jul 2020, 4.5 stars
The world average price is US$61 / 750ml (Wine-Searcher, ex-tax, Sep 2026).
How I drank it
August 26, 2020, 5 stars. At the top of the note I listed blueberry, blackberry, plum, açaí berry, liquorice, black fruit.
This was the wine that opened my eyes to Australian Shiraz. That particular scent — the first delicious sweet I got hooked on as a child — was here. I had caught it faintly in other wines before, but in Blue Eyed Boy it was enormously strong.
Two months earlier, on July 4, in my note on The Standish Shiraz, I had written that Shiraz's first touch on the tongue tasted exactly like Campbell-grape wine, like snacking on something delicious. What was faint then rang loud in this bottle.
Against a community average of 4.4 and critic scores of 91–92, my five stars are high. This bottle is remembered less for a score than as a 'first'. It is the only entry for that day. Two months later, on October 16, I had the same house's Carnival of Love Shiraz 2017 and gave it 3.5.
Vivino community data
2018 vintage rating distribution (1661 ratings, average 4.4)
| 5★ | 409 (25%) | |
| 4★ | 1109 (67%) | |
| 3★ | 129 (8%) | |
| 2★ | 13 (1%) | |
| 1★ | 1 (0%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Black fruit | 1611 | blueberry 472 · blackberry 313 · plum 296 · dark fruit 130 · black fruit 90 |
| Oak | 1278 | vanilla 347 · oak 301 · chocolate 223 · tobacco 73 · dark chocolate 68 |
| Spice | 540 | pepper 216 · licorice 135 · eucalyptus 51 · cinnamon 35 · mint 26 |
| Earth & leather | 310 | leather 98 · smoke 78 · earthy 38 · cocoa 27 · tar 12 |
| Red fruit | 249 | cherry 137 · raspberry 50 · red fruit 16 · strawberry 15 · cranberry 6 |
Structure: Acidity 3.0/5 · Intensity 4.9/5 · Tannin 3.1/5 · Sweetness 2.1/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 17428 ratings, average 4.3)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 4.4 | 113 |
| 2007 | 4.2 | 188 |
| 2008 | 4.4 | 36 |
| 2009 | 4.2 | 441 |
| 2010 | 4.3 | 740 |
| 2011 | 4.4 | 464 |
| 2012 | 4.3 | 970 |
| 2013 | 4.3 | 1190 |
| 2014 | 4.4 | 1500 |
| 2015 | 4.4 | 1566 |
| 2016 | 4.3 | 1942 |
| 2017 | 4.4 | 1714 |
| 2018 | 4.4 | 1661 |
| 2019 | 4.4 | 233 |
| 2020 | 4.3 | 644 |
| 2021 | 4.2 | 1700 |
| 2022 | 4.2 | 352 |
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→Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy?
A 100% Shiraz made by Mollydooker in South Australia, named after the founders' son, Luke. The 2018 averages 4.4 on Vivino (1,661 ratings) with a Wine-Searcher critic aggregate of 91.
How much does it cost?
Wine-Searcher's world average is US$61 per 750ml (ex-tax, Sep 2026). One US seller lists the 2018 at US$33.67 (tax incl.).
What food goes with it?
The Vivino community suggests beef, lamb and game such as venison. With fruit and alcohol this concentrated, many reviews pair it with rich meat dishes.
Why do you shake a bottle of Mollydooker?
Mollydooker uses less sulphite and protects its wines with nitrogen. The producer explains that if you pour out about a glass, close the cap and shake the upturned bottle hard, the nitrogen is released, the texture softens and the aromatics lift.
Links & sources
View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher
- Vivino — wine page and community data
- Please the Palate — These Lefties Are Doing It Right at Mollydooker
- Wine Spectator — The Wine Label as Art: Mollydooker
- Wine-Searcher — 2018 Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz
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Same producerNuala Sauvignon Blanc 2019
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