Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz 2016 is deep ruby in colour, with intense aromas of violets, fennel, sage, boysenberry, marzipan along with a hint of cedar. Layers of concentrated cherries and dark chocolate on the palate, followed by slowly building fine grained graphite-like tannins of immense length. Block 6 Shiraz speaks of complexity and balance. Time & careful cellaring will reward your drinking pleasure. Reviews "The front label boldly declares, "Handpicked from 124 year old vines", a teaser to the seamless complexity and effortless confidence of this lauded label. 2016 goes down among my favourites yet, for its calm juxtaposition of reverberating depth of satsuma plum and black cherry fruits and exotic spice and its finely poised structure of firm, finely textured tannins and gliding persistence. 14.0%. $95.00" 96 Points - Tyson Stelzer, WBM Magazine, Sept-Oct 2018"Surprise. I looked on the shelf at MBTF, and sighted this. Liquorice and blackness; could somebody please turn the lights back on? Full bodied, dense and massed with silty smooth tannin, black olives rolled in dried herb, iron, some vanilla oak prettiness, bright boysenberry acidity pushes it along, and then a long savoury earthen finish. Brooding and magnificent. It’s a top shelf Block 6." 96 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, September 2018, Drink: 2022 - 2038+
In July 1891, Fred & Herbert Kay collected selected Shiraz cuttings from Thomas Hardy's Tintara Vineyard which they began to plant on Block 6 of their McLaren Vale Amery Vineyardon July 18, 1892. The first wine from these vines was made in 1897, the Kay Brothers third vintage. Of the original 12 acres only 4 acres remain today and although the quantity of grapes harvested each year is small the quality is outstanding.
In their 124th year, an excellent crop of 10.65 tonnes was handpicked from these ancient gnarled vines on the 7th of March 2016. The grapes were crushed, de-stemmed and plunged twice daily, while spending 10 days on skins in our traditional open fermenters built in 1896. The wine was then basket pressed and matured for 23 months in 40% new French and American oak puncheons, prior to bottling in March 2018. Winery Notes
