Shattered dreams: A slip of the forklift destroys $1 million worth of Mollydooker shiraz wine

Shattered dreams.

That's what happened on Thursday when a forklift dropped a 12-ton container of Mollydooker Velvet Glove Shiraz, the 2010 vintage, on to the Adelaide wharf as it was being loaded onto a ship.

All but one of a total of 462 cases was destroyed, according to the New York Times.

As a result of the mishap, winemaker Sparky Marquis lost a third of his production, a total of 5,532 bottles of the $200-a-bottle red wine, according to Australian Associated Press.

“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 Mollydooker Velvet Glove Shiraz was to be the winery's debut in the United States market, and demand was expected to be strong, Time reported.

The wine has gotten terrific reviews from American critics, the Wall Street Journal reported. The 2009 vintage of the Velvet Glove shiraz received a rating of 97 points from the Wine Advocate, a newsletter put out by the famous critic Robert Parker.

Mollydooker Wines, located in the McLaren Vale region near Adelaide, South Australia, was founded by Sparky and Sarah Marquis, both of whom are left-handed, according to the New York Times. Their winery is named after that characteristic: Mollydooker is Ozzie slang for a lefty.

Sparky Marquis said that the wine was fully insured and investigators were already on the scene, Australian Associated Press reported.

He added that he was grateful that no one was hurt in the accident, AAP said:

“So how do I feel? Gut-wrenched, shocked, numb,” he said.

“But then you come out the other side and think, well, no one got hurt. It's wine and a fairly big loss, but luckily we're insured.”