$1m wine spill 'was like a murder scene'

An Australian maker says he's "gut-wrenched, shocked and numb" after losing more than $1 million of his flagship shiraz when a container crashed from a forklift. Mollydooker Wines' 2010 Velvet Glove Shiraz sells for $185 a bottle, but now winemaker Sparky Marquis has lost a third of his production after the mishap which destroyed all but one of the 462 cases bound for the US.

As the container hit the ground the force of 12 tonnes crushed the cartons, reducing many to a third of their normal size. "It was unbelievable, crazy. It was not what I wanted to hear," Mr Marquis said. "When they opened up the container they said it was like a murder scene. There was red everywhere. But it smelled phenomenal. They were really impressed with the smell."



The accident has put a major spanner in the works for Mollydooker's US launch in September where demand for Velvet Glove was expected to be high. It will also impact on the availability of the wine across Australia. "It's a massive loss. We're going through all of the 462 cases at the moment just to see what we can save out of it," Mr Marquis said.

"Really, we've only found one carton that has survived intact, so it's going to mean a massive shortage of the wine." Mr Marquis said the only saving grace was that the wine was fully insured with assessors already on the scene. He was also grateful that no one was hurt in the accident.