Block 6 Shiraz
1892
“Block 6 is the oldest vineyard in McLaren Vale's oldest winery that still remains in founding family hands.”
Kay Brothers’ flagship wine, handpicked from Shiraz vines planted in 1892.
In May 1891, brothers Bert and Fred Kay ordered 60,000 vine cuttings from Thomas Hardy’s Tintara vineyard, including 30,000 Shiraz cuttings. They planted most of the cuttings in a nursery bed. In 1892, they transferred 5,890 Shiraz rootlings to Block 6 in the south-east corner of Amery Hillside vineyard. Around 2000 vines remain.
Long held in high esteem as one of McLaren Vale’s finest Shiraz plantings, Block 6 Shiraz continues the tradition at Kay Brothers of producing full bodied red wines that have the grace and pedigree to age for decades.
Handpicked and fermented in the original open top fermenters, Block 6 Shiraz is a wine of great strength, deep complexity and amazing vibrancy. The Block 6 vineyard faces east and rows run north south with significant undulation. The vines are cane pruned with the canes wrapped onto the top wire of the low lying trellis.
The present 1.5 hectares comprises a corner of red loam, some heavy clay in the middle of the block and gravelly alluvial soils on the lower side.
The underlying “South Maslin Sands” geology is extremely complex containing layers of glauconite, limestone, sandstone and siltstone.
| Vineyard | Block 6 |
| Planted | 1892 |
| Varietal | Shiraz |
| Subregion | Seaview |
| Soil Composition | A corner of red loam, some rather heavy clay in the middle of the block and gravelly alluvial soils on the lower and upper sides. |
| Altitude | 115m above Sea Level. |
| Canopy Management | Until 1987 the vines were pruned as bush vines, after this a modern vertical trellis was introduced. Spur and rod pruned with the rod tied to a catch the wire above the main cordon. |
| Vine Aspect | Rows run north–south with about 3.6 meters between rows and 2.1 meters between vines in each row. |
| Irrigation | Block 6 was dry land managed until 1983. Limited irrigation was then introduced using a soaker hose. In spring 1991 a full drip-irrigation system was installed. The system is computer controlled and uses recycled water. Irrigation can be supplied during heat stress to maintain vine health and maximise fruit quality. |
| Fermentation | Fruit is de-stemmed, crushed and fermented in open tanks built in 1895. Skin contact is 7 to 10 days and the cap is hand plunged twice daily. The fermented wine is basket pressed and the free run and pressings are blended together. |
| Oak | Oak puncheons (500 litres) where it completes fermentation. A combination of French, and American oak is used. The wine is usually matured for 18 to 20 months, on occasion longer, and is usually racked and returned twice prior to bottling. |
Thrd generation winemaker Colin Kay.
Icon Custodian
Born in the Kay’s homestead in 1940, Colin grew up on the Amery property. Choosing to follow in his family footsteps by also becoming a winemaker, completing his Diploma in Oenology in 1963 Dux of his year.
Broadening his perspective, Colin worked in the Barossa for three years, then traveled extensively, visiting wine regions in California, South America and Europe.
In 1970 Colin returned to the Amery property to become the third generation winemaker of the Kay family. Colin was winemaker and managing director until 2014 when he officially retired. He still lives on the property and visits the winery most days.
Amongst the considerable replanting that Colin undertook during his time, was a small block of Nero d’Avola which was a variety that had always intrigued him. Colin was also amongst the first to use Stelvin closures on premium wines, notably the Block 6.
Colin’s winemaking philosophy is that wine should reflect the place where the grapes are grown.
Kay Brothers is a certified member of
Sustainable Winegrowing Australia.
