Forklift accident sends $1M worth of fine wine down the drain

A forklift loading cartons on an Australian dock dropped 462 cases of wine, sending $1 million worth of  shiraz down the drain, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.  Only one carton survived intact.

The cases of 2010 Mollydooker Velvet Glove shiraz fell more than 18 feet Thursday as they were being loaded in Adelaide for export to the USA.

The highly rated wine, valued at $185 a bottle, was to be formally launched in the USA in September.  The accident wiped out a third of the winemaker Spark Marquis' annual production.

Marquis tells the Australian Associated Press that shipping crews who opened the crushed cartons said "it was like a murder scene --- there was red everywhere."

"But," he adds, "it smelled phenomenal."