The Block 6 tradition began on the 9th March 1897 when Fred and Herbert Kay, together with their picking team, began to hand pick Block 6 Shiraz grapes for the first time. By the end of the 1897 vintage a total of 7ton 4cwt had been harvested from these 1892 plantings and the wine produced formed part of a blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Mataro.
On the 19th February 2008 Herbert Kay’s grandson Colin Kay commenced Block 6’s 111th vintage, from the remaining 4 acres, and by the end of the day 16.90 tonnes of choice hand picked Shiraz grapes were fermenting in the same open fermenters used for the 1897 crush. After fermentation and basket pressing the wine was matured in Eastern European and American oak casks for over 2 years prior to bottling on the 13th August 2010.
The 2008 Block 6 Shiraz comes from a vintage rated as one of the best ever at Kays Amery producing beautifully balanced wines with great fruit flavour and concentration and incredible depth of colour.
The Block 6 wine shows all of the above delightful characteristics plus that unique, illusive “old vine” palate complexity that sets the Block 6 Shiraz apart, in a class of its own.
Colour:Medium to Deep Purple. Nose: Medium to full intensity. Initially black currants, Satsuma plums and mulberries with underlying white pepper, caraway seed, dark chocolate and truffle. Palate: Full intensity. Awesome length and weight. Excellent integration between fruit and oak. Layers of fruit flavours of black currants, plum, fig and dark chocolate. Secondary flavours of mocha, five spice and liquorice. Superb balance from start to finish and a warm, lingering aftertaste.